Units are the part everyone double-checks. You know what happened in the room; this guide turns it into the code and the count, and you can keep it open while you write the superbill.
The four needling codes
The page starts with one table. 97810 is acupuncture without electrical stimulation and 97813 is with it, each for the first 15 minutes of one-on-one time. 97811 and 97814 are the matching add-ons for each further 15 minutes. Those two are defined with re-insertion of needles, which billing guidance reads as a new needle set, for example after turning the patient over.
So the common surprise is a 40-minute visit with one set of needles: the clock would support three units, but one set supports one unit of 97810 or 97813. The guide says to count face-to-face minutes, not needle time, and to write both in the note.
How time becomes units
A unit is 15 minutes. Common practice treats it as earned at the midpoint, so 8 minutes earns the first unit, 23 the second and 38 the third; under 8 minutes bills nothing. The guide calls this billing convention rather than something the code descriptions spell out, and notes that payers can round differently or set their own daily limits. It cites UnitedHealthcare and Premera policies as examples.
A visit-check tool lets you tick what happened and see the superbill lines that would result, using the same needling rule Goji applies.
Consultations and the rest
The searchable finder covers the codes that often join the needling ones: consultation (E/M) visits 99202 to 99204 and 99212 to 99214, herbal formulas dispensed (A9150), massage (97124), manual therapy (97140), infrared (97026) and cupping (97016). Each entry says what it is, how many units, and what to watch for. A second finder picks a preventive visit code from 99381 to 99397 by age and new or established patient.
- A consultation billed the same day as needling usually needs modifier 25, written 99203-25, and some payers do not pay a same-day consultation at all.
- Manual therapy and massage are commonly bundled with acupuncture by payer edits, so check the payer first.
- Neither cupping nor moxibustion has a CPT code of its own; the guide suggests a separate cash-pay line.
Where claims go wrong
A list of eight common denial patterns includes add-on units with no second set in the note, a consultation with no modifier 25, needles billed separately, and acupuncture billed alongside dry needling on the same day. It is drawn from trade-press billing guidance and published payer policies, not any one payer's rules or a coder's review, and the page says so.
You can print a one-page quick reference or a five-page complete reference as PDFs. Goji suggests 97810 or 97813 from the visit's recorded minutes and whether electrical stimulation was used; add-on units are off by default and can be turned on under Settings, Billing. Goji never submits a claim. For the other half of the billing set see the ICD-10 list and the superbill builder.