CPT code 99283: Emergency department visit, moderate complexity

CPT code 99283 represents an emergency department visit where qualified health care professionals provide a moderate complexity evaluation, including an expanded problem-focused history, examination, and moderate decision-making. It is used for patients with low to moderate severity conditions requiring urgent but non-life-threatening care.

CPT 99283 is justified when the documentation supports an expanded problem-focused history and examination, moderate medical decision-making, and when the patient's condition requires immediate evaluation by qualified health care professionals but does not yet demand a comprehensive history or examination.

The key difference is the complexity and severity: CPT 99283 involves moderate complexity with an expanded history and examination, while CPT 99284 requires a comprehensive history, comprehensive examination, and moderate to high complexity decision-making, typically for patients with more serious or potentially life-threatening conditions.