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Billing code

A193A — Specific assessment – psychiatry

Psychiatry specific assessment

A psychiatrist bills A193 for a full history of the presenting complaint and detailed exam, outside the patient's home.

Watch for: One per patient per physician per 12 months, two only for an unrelated diagnosis; extras pay as a lesser assessment.

Code

A193A

Description

Specific assessment – psychiatry

FHO+ basket

Not in the FHO+ base rate basket (Schedule 2 or 2B).

Effective date

Apr 1, 2026

Termination date

No end date

Explanation

Updated October 26, 2026

Psychiatrist's specific assessment: full history of the presenting complaint and a detailed exam of the affected systems.

What it covers

A specific assessment is a specialist's service, outside the patient's home, with a full history of the presenting complaint and a detailed exam of the affected part(s), region(s) or system(s) needed to make a diagnosis, exclude disease or assess function (GP23).

A193 is the psychiatry general listing; in hospital it is C193 (A184, A186).

Billing rules

• Limited to 1 per patient per physician per 12 months (2 if the second visit has a clearly different, unrelated diagnosis); extras are paid as a lesser assessment (GP23).
• Out-of-hospital psychotherapy or psychiatric care the same day by you is not payable unless the diagnoses are clearly different (GP55).
• Can be done by video or phone with an existing relationship; add K300A or K301A (Appendix J, A70).

Common rejections

• AT3: Billed as virtual care (K300A/K301A) and OHIP found no existing patient-physician relationship, such as an in-person service by you in the past 24 months (A66).

Related codes: A194, A195, A196, A395, C193, C194

Source: Schedule of Benefits (July 1, 2026), Consultations and Visits, Psychiatry (19), page A184; rules GP23.

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