The short answer. 97124 is massage therapy. 97140 is manual therapy, a different clinical activity that a payer will hold to its own documentation condition. Whether you can bill either one depends on your state licensure and the individual plan, and a doctor's order is usually required before a payer will pay.
CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association, which owns and maintains the code set. The descriptions below are plain-English summaries written for orientation. Bill from the current official descriptors.
The American Massage Therapy Association lists five CPT codes commonly used by massage therapists.
Source: AMTA insurance reimbursement guidance. AMTA notes that these codes are updated periodically. The two right-hand columns are short names and plain-English glosses written for this article. Neither reproduces the AMA's official descriptor, and neither is a substitute for it.
97124 is the therapeutic massage CPT code a practice bills for a routine soft tissue visit. The others appear when the visit includes work beyond massage technique.
They are separate codes for separate clinical activities: 97124 is massage therapy, and 97140 is manual therapy techniques. Telling them apart is the question massage billing turns on.
Highmark states that manual therapy (CPT 97140) should be reported only when the service meets the CPT definition for manual therapy techniques and is supported by documentation. Read that as a condition on the code rather than a formality.
The practical test: describe in your note what your hands did, where, and why, specifically enough that a reviewer can match it to the official descriptor for the code you billed. If the note could describe either code, it does not clearly support the one on the claim.
Sometimes, and this is where claims get denied.
Whether a payer accepts both codes on one claim is set by that payer's policy, and the policies differ. Treat it as a question to answer per contract rather than a rule you can carry from one insurer to the next.
Four things to confirm with each payer before you submit both:
Your note is what the answer rests on either way. A record describing one continuous session of hands-on work gives a reviewer little to distinguish two separate services.
Highmark has stated that from 26 October 2026, it will no longer separately reimburse 97124 when billed by providers designated as chiropractic, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and physiatry across its Commercial and Medicare Advantage products. Billed by those specialties, the code will be denied as not separately reimbursed and non-billable to the member.
Massage therapists billing as the rendering provider are not affected by that change. Highmark says so directly.
If you work inside a chiropractic or physical therapy clinic that bills under the practice's provider number, this is a conversation to have with whoever runs your billing before 26 October 2026. If you bill as the rendering provider yourself, Highmark states this policy direction does not affect you.
Source: Highmark reimbursement update, published 23 July 2026. This is one payer's policy and applies to Highmark plans only. Check your own contracts.
It depends on two things that vary independently: your state and the individual plan. AMTA states that state laws and individual insurance plan policies control whether massage therapists can bill, and that standards vary from state to state and from insurance company to insurance company.
AMTA also notes that some plans require massage be performed by a physical therapist, occupational therapist, chiropractor, or another profession, which means the same treatment can be covered or denied based on who provided it.
Two checks before you take an insured client:
Usually. AMTA states that insurance companies also usually require a doctor's order before they will pay a claim.
Get it before the first appointment. An order that arrives after treatment leaves the claim resting on paperwork that postdates the care, and the client is the one left holding the bill if it is denied.
The order should name the diagnosis, the treatment requested, and the frequency and duration. A vague note asking for massage gives a claims reviewer room to deny.
AMTA sets the floor: a claim file must have documentation confirming the service was provided.
A stronger record goes further. Each note should tie the technique to the diagnosis and show the visit was medically necessary:
Notes that read identically week after week give a reviewer nothing to show progress. If nothing changed, the record needs to explain why treatment continued.
{{claim-md-navattic-demo-simple-text}}
Massage billing fails in two places: the order that arrived late, and the note that did not support the code.
Both are documentation problems, and both are fixable before the claim goes out. Keep the referral attached to the client record, use a note template that prompts for diagnosis, technique, region, time, and response, and check the note against the code before you submit.
Practice Better handles billing and insurance alongside charting, so the note and the claim come from the same record instead of two systems that have to agree.
Start a free trial of Practice Better to keep referrals, notes, and claims in one place.
For the broader code set beyond massage, see a wellness pro's guide to CPT codes.
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The short answer. 97124 is massage therapy. 97140 is manual therapy, a different clinical activity that a payer will hold to its own documentation condition. Whether you can bill either one depends on your state licensure and the individual plan, and a doctor's order is usually required before a payer will pay.
CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association, which owns and maintains the code set. The descriptions below are plain-English summaries written for orientation. Bill from the current official descriptors.
The American Massage Therapy Association lists five CPT codes commonly used by massage therapists.
Source: AMTA insurance reimbursement guidance. AMTA notes that these codes are updated periodically. The two right-hand columns are short names and plain-English glosses written for this article. Neither reproduces the AMA's official descriptor, and neither is a substitute for it.
97124 is the therapeutic massage CPT code a practice bills for a routine soft tissue visit. The others appear when the visit includes work beyond massage technique.
They are separate codes for separate clinical activities: 97124 is massage therapy, and 97140 is manual therapy techniques. Telling them apart is the question massage billing turns on.
Highmark states that manual therapy (CPT 97140) should be reported only when the service meets the CPT definition for manual therapy techniques and is supported by documentation. Read that as a condition on the code rather than a formality.
The practical test: describe in your note what your hands did, where, and why, specifically enough that a reviewer can match it to the official descriptor for the code you billed. If the note could describe either code, it does not clearly support the one on the claim.
Sometimes, and this is where claims get denied.
Whether a payer accepts both codes on one claim is set by that payer's policy, and the policies differ. Treat it as a question to answer per contract rather than a rule you can carry from one insurer to the next.
Four things to confirm with each payer before you submit both:
Your note is what the answer rests on either way. A record describing one continuous session of hands-on work gives a reviewer little to distinguish two separate services.
Highmark has stated that from 26 October 2026, it will no longer separately reimburse 97124 when billed by providers designated as chiropractic, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and physiatry across its Commercial and Medicare Advantage products. Billed by those specialties, the code will be denied as not separately reimbursed and non-billable to the member.
Massage therapists billing as the rendering provider are not affected by that change. Highmark says so directly.
If you work inside a chiropractic or physical therapy clinic that bills under the practice's provider number, this is a conversation to have with whoever runs your billing before 26 October 2026. If you bill as the rendering provider yourself, Highmark states this policy direction does not affect you.
Source: Highmark reimbursement update, published 23 July 2026. This is one payer's policy and applies to Highmark plans only. Check your own contracts.
It depends on two things that vary independently: your state and the individual plan. AMTA states that state laws and individual insurance plan policies control whether massage therapists can bill, and that standards vary from state to state and from insurance company to insurance company.
AMTA also notes that some plans require massage be performed by a physical therapist, occupational therapist, chiropractor, or another profession, which means the same treatment can be covered or denied based on who provided it.
Two checks before you take an insured client:
Usually. AMTA states that insurance companies also usually require a doctor's order before they will pay a claim.
Get it before the first appointment. An order that arrives after treatment leaves the claim resting on paperwork that postdates the care, and the client is the one left holding the bill if it is denied.
The order should name the diagnosis, the treatment requested, and the frequency and duration. A vague note asking for massage gives a claims reviewer room to deny.
AMTA sets the floor: a claim file must have documentation confirming the service was provided.
A stronger record goes further. Each note should tie the technique to the diagnosis and show the visit was medically necessary:
Notes that read identically week after week give a reviewer nothing to show progress. If nothing changed, the record needs to explain why treatment continued.
{{claim-md-navattic-demo-simple-text}}
Massage billing fails in two places: the order that arrived late, and the note that did not support the code.
Both are documentation problems, and both are fixable before the claim goes out. Keep the referral attached to the client record, use a note template that prompts for diagnosis, technique, region, time, and response, and check the note against the code before you submit.
Practice Better handles billing and insurance alongside charting, so the note and the claim come from the same record instead of two systems that have to agree.
Start a free trial of Practice Better to keep referrals, notes, and claims in one place.
For the broader code set beyond massage, see a wellness pro's guide to CPT codes.
{{free-trial-simple-text}}
