Setting Up Services, Fees, and Procedure Codes
How to choose service types, configure fees and durations, review CPT or HCPCS codes, and distinguish therapy services from consultations and free intake calls.
Services tell PracticeRunner what kind of appointment is being scheduled. A service can supply the usual duration and fee, control whether insurance-related billing tools apply, and provide the procedure code used on superbills or CMS-1500 claims.
Open Settings → Practice → Services to review or add services. Owners and admins can manage the practice service list. Clinicians can use their own fee or duration when the practice allows provider-specific overrides.
What each service includes
When you create or edit a service, review:
- Name: The formal or internal service name.
- Friendly name: Optional client-facing wording shown in the portal and scheduler.
- Service type: Determines whether the service belongs to therapy, consultation, workshop, or non-session workflows.
- Duration: The usual appointment length.
- Default price: The practice-level fee. A service can have a $0 default when the practice does not charge for it or will set the fee later.
- Procedure code: Required for an insurance-eligible service. PracticeRunner supports CPT and HCPCS as code systems.
- Billing-document use: For an insurance-eligible service, choose whether it can appear on superbills and CMS-1500 forms.
- Practice sharing: A shared service is available across the practice. Provider-specific fee and duration overrides do not change the practice default.
Service availability in the public scheduler is configured separately through scheduling offerings and availability. Adding a service does not automatically make it publicly bookable.
Choose the service type that matches the work
| Service type | Use it for | Insurance workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance-eligible service | Therapy, clinical evaluations, and other services that may be submitted for reimbursement | Requires a CPT or HCPCS procedure code and can be approved for superbills or CMS-1500 forms |
| Consultation service | Paid or free initial consultations, individual consultation, consultation groups, clinical supervision, and practice consulting | Uses invoices and receipts rather than diagnosis, claims, or superbills by default |
| Workshop, class, or non-clinical service | Workshops, classes, trainings, and other non-therapy group services | Does not use psychotherapy diagnosis or insurance-claim workflows by default |
| Free call, paperwork, or non-session item | Free calls that are not being handled as consultation appointments, paperwork, and other non-session calendar items | Not intended for insurance billing |
The fee does not determine the service type. A consultation can be paid, and an insurance-eligible service can temporarily have a $0 fee. Choose the type based on the work being provided and the billing workflow that applies.
Consultation cases cannot use insurance-eligible therapy services as their default service. Use a consultation service for a consultation client or consultation group, even when the consultation has a fee.
Initial consultations and evaluations
“Initial consultation” can describe different kinds of meetings. Configure the service according to what actually happens:
- An introductory or intake consultation can use Consultation service whether it is free or paid. Set the fee to $0 when the practice does not charge for it, or enter the agreed fee when it does.
- Use Free call, paperwork, or non-session item when the calendar item is not being treated as a consultation appointment, such as a brief administrative call or paperwork block.
- An initial clinical evaluation that may be billed to insurance should use Insurance-eligible service with the procedure code the practice has confirmed is appropriate.
For prospect cases, booking an appointment with a fee or an insurance-eligible service completes the prospect-to-client transition automatically. A fee-free consultation using a non-insurance service does not. See Managing Inquiries, From First Contact to Active Client for the full workflow.
CPT and HCPCS procedure codes
Insurance-eligible services require a procedure code. Select CPT or HCPCS, then enter the code your practice uses for that service.
The procedure code belongs to the service. When that service is selected for an appointment, PracticeRunner can carry the code into eligible superbill and claim lines. Locations separately supply place-of-service and modifier defaults, and an appointment can use overrides when the service was delivered differently.
PracticeRunner does not determine which code is clinically appropriate, covered by a payer, or reimbursable. Confirm the service name, code, duration, fee, documentation, and payer requirements before using the service on billing documents.
Review insurance-facing services
New or imported insurance-eligible services may show Needs review. Open each service and confirm:
- the service name and client-facing name
- the CPT or HCPCS procedure code
- the usual duration and current fee
- whether the service can be used on superbills
- whether the service can be used on CMS-1500 forms
Complete the confirmation shown in PracticeRunner, then approve the service. A service that still needs review cannot be used to generate an affected billing document. Changing an approved service’s billing-relevant name, procedure code, fee, or document eligibility sends it back for review.
The separate Services and fees review records that the practice has reviewed its overall list, durations, and current fees. It does not replace the individual approval required for an insurance-eligible service.
Starter services and setup templates
PracticeRunner includes starter data and setup templates to make configuration faster. Treat them as editable examples, not as coding or fee recommendations.
Examples in the starter data include:
| Example | Type | Duration | Starter code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Initial Consultation | Consultation service | 20 minutes | None |
| Consultation Service | Consultation service | 60 minutes | None |
| Group Consultation Service | Consultation service | 60 minutes | None |
| Initial evaluation | Insurance-eligible service | 60 minutes | CPT 90791 |
| Individual therapy | Insurance-eligible service | 30, 50, or 60 minutes | CPT 90832, 90834, or 90837 |
| Couples/family therapy | Insurance-eligible service | 50 minutes | CPT 90847 |
| Couples/family therapy without the identified client present | Insurance-eligible service | 50 minutes | CPT 90846 |
| Group therapy | Insurance-eligible service | 60 minutes | CPT 90853 |
Setup templates intentionally do not choose a procedure code for the practice. When you add an insurance-eligible service from a template, enter and review the code before approval. Archive starter services you do not need, adjust names and durations to match your practice, and set your actual fees.
Archiving preserves the service on existing appointments and billing history while removing it from normal new scheduling. An archived service can be restored later.