Healthcare Insights
15 most common family medicine procedures of 2021
When mild illness occurs or routine medical screenings are needed, most patients rely on the services of a primary care physician with training in family medicine.
Family medicine practitioners, or family physicians, provide ongoing, comprehensive care for individuals and families at all stages of life and across disease states. Family physicians’ role in preventive care and health promotion make them a critical part of personal well-being and public health.
We’ve compiled a list of the top 15 family medicine procedures by volume below.
| Rank | HCPCS/CPT code | HCPCS/CPT description | # total procedures | % total procedures | Total charges | % total charges | Avg charge/procedure | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 99213 | Established patient office visit, 20-29 min. | 26,670,650 | 7.30% | $3,964,469,207 | 7.20% | $149 | Explore |
| 2 | 99214 | Established patient office visit, 30-39 min. | 26,589,204 | 7.30% | $5,703,005,444 | 10.30% | $214 | Explore |
| 3 | 36415 | Routine venipuncture | 13,134,704 | 3.60% | $216,834,682 | 0.40% | $17 | Explore |
| 4 | G0299 | Home health/hospice RN services, per 15 min. | 7,034,418 | 1.90% | $1,508,366,049 | 2.70% | $214 | Explore |
| 5 | 80061 | Lipid panel | 5,965,402 | 1.60% | $514,057,217 | 0.90% | $86 | Explore |
| 6 | 80053 | Comprehensive metabolic panel | 5,876,324 | 1.60% | $682,522,547 | 1.20% | $116 | Explore |
| 7 | 85025 | Complete blood count w/ automated differential WBC count | 5,506,661 | 1.50% | $330,636,037 | 0.60% | $60 | Explore |
| 8 | 83036 | Glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) | 5,095,347 | 1.40% | $292,492,696 | 0.50% | $57 | Explore |
| 9 | 97110 | Therapeutic exercises | 4,767,488 | 1.30% | $724,055,587 | 1.30% | $152 | Explore |
| 10 | 3078F | Diastolic blood pressure < 80 mm Hg | 4,636,637 | 1.30% | $1,003,385 | 0.00% | $0 | Explore |
| 11 | 3074F | Systolic blood pressure < 130 mmHg | 4,496,149 | 1.20% | $984,098 | 0.00% | $0 | Explore |
| 12 | 90471 | Immunization administration | 4,470,667 | 1.20% | $210,882,928 | 0.40% | $47 | Explore |
| 13 | 3008F | Body mass index, documented | 4,224,056 | 1.20% | $2,699,794 | 0.00% | $1 | Explore |
| 14 | G0151 | Home health/hospice physical therapist , per 15 min. | 4,202,647 | 1.20% | $1,023,411,032 | 1.90% | $244 | Explore |
| 15 | 99396 | Established patient preventive services, age 40-64 | 3,727,778 | 1.00% | $918,423,136 | 1.70% | $246 | Explore |
Fig 1. Data is from the Definitive Healthcare ClaimsMX product. Data is accurate as of May 2022.
What were the leading family medicine procedures in 2021?
The 15 family medicine HCPCS/CPT codes listed above represent 126,398,132 individual procedures—just shy of 35% of all family medicine procedures performed in 2021.
Leading the list is a care event that will be familiar to most people: a 20- to 29-minute physician’s office visit by an established patient (CPT code 99213). Family physicians conducted 26,670,650 of these visits in 2021.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the next most common family medicine procedure was an established patient office visit ranging from 30 to 39 minutes long (CPT code 99214), with 26,589,204 performed in 2021.
These routine visits can involve a discussion of a patient’s medical history, a medical exam, or consultation for a presenting health concern, diagnostic results, prognosis and/or patient education. While these visits are usually performed in the physician’s office, they can technically be performed in any outpatient setting.
Together, established patient office visits ranging from 20 to 39 minutes accounted for 53.2 million procedure codes and $9.6 billion in charges (17.5% of all family medicine charges) in 2021.
For patients who are unable to visit a physician’s office, home health and hospice care offer critical, highly valued support. Home health/hospice visits by registered nurses (CPT code G0299) and physical therapists (CPT code G0151) occupy the 4th and 15th positions on this list by volume respectively, but rank third and fourth when looking at total charges.
Which diagnostic procedures do family physicians perform the most?
The third most common procedure on our list is the routine venipuncture (CPT code 36415), in which a specimen of a patient’s blood is collected for testing. Over 13 million routine venipunctures were performed by family physicians in 2021.
Specimens collected via venipuncture can be tested in a variety of ways, most often in the form of lipid panels (CPT code 80061), comprehensive metabolic panels (CPT code 80053), complete blood counts (CPT code 85025) and glycosylated hemoglobin analyses (CPT code 83036).
These diagnostic procedures can be used to determine risk factors, identify abnormalities and inform treatment plans for common concerns including cardiovascular disease, pancreatitis, diabetes and anemia. Over 22.4 million of these procedures were performed in 2021.
What is family medicine?
Family medicine is the medical specialty focusing on generalized, continuing care for patients and families of every age, gender and health status. Family physicians are core providers of primary care, a healthcare model designed to address the majority of patients’ routine health needs.
In the early 20th century, family health was the concern of general practitioners—essentially, any physician who had completed four years of medical school along with a one-year internship. As doctors grew more specialized and residencies became a normal part of medical training, the healthcare community began to acknowledge a need for family-focused specialists.
Early in 1969, the family medicine specialization was officially recognized through the establishment of the American Board of Family Medicine.
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