Overview
BrainCheck provides two primary types of assessments — Screen and Assess — that work together to support early detection, diagnosis, and ongoing cognitive care planning.
BrainCheck Screen is a quick, pass/fail assessment designed to establish medical necessity for further testing and support prior authorization for CPT codes 96136, 96138, and 96132.
BrainCheck Assess is a billable, in-depth cognitive evaluation providing detailed scores, impressions, and clinical correlations for each cognitive domain.
BrainCheck Screen
Purpose:
Not billable.
Supports medical necessity for further testing.
Often used to strengthen prior authorization requests.
Helps identify patients with cognitive deficits they may not be aware of (early detection).
Possible Outcomes:
Within Expected Range – Retest in 12 months (or sooner if medical need arises).
More Testing Recommended – Proceed to BrainCheck Assess for detailed evaluation.
When to Skip the Screen:
If the patient is already presenting with cognitive concerns, you can go directly to BrainCheck Assess without first doing a Screen.
BrainCheck Assess
Purpose:
Billable CPT codes: 96136, 96138, and 96132.
Detailed cognitive evaluation across multiple domains.
Generates both an overall impression and domain-specific results.
Includes an Interpretation Guide that explains the patient’s performance pattern and supports next steps and patient conversations.
Overall Clinical Impression
The Overall Clinical Impression is a qualitative description of overall performance and concern for cognitive impairment:
Likely Cognitive Impairment – Multiple cognitive domains indicate impairment.
Borderline Cognitive Impairment – At least one cognitive domain indicates impairment; review individual results closely.
Unlikely Cognitive Impairment – Cognitive impairment is unlikely based on patient’s performance.
Composite Cognitive Score
Range: 0 to 200
Average: 100 (Standard Deviation: 15)
Adjusted for patient’s age group and device used, plus education level where applicable, based on BrainCheck’s normative database.
Higher score = better performance relative to healthy peers.
An average across every skill area, most useful for tracking change from visit to visit.
Population Percentile
Compares the patient to healthy individuals in the same age group (and education level, for patients 50 and older tested on iPad) from BrainCheck’s normative database.
Available for both the composite cognitive score and each individual domain.
Displayed on a bell curve that shows where the patient falls compared to others. The further left, the further below average.
Reading the Overall Clinical Impression and Composite Cognitive Score Together
These two measures answer different questions, and it is normal for them to disagree. The Overall Clinical Impression is your main clinical finding. It flags whether any one skill area shows real impairment, regardless of how the other areas performed. The Composite Cognitive Score is an average across every skill area and is most useful for tracking change from visit to visit.
Because the composite is an average, a patient can do well in most areas and still have a serious problem in one, and the composite score will not show it. If the two disagree, go with the Overall Clinical Impression.
Individual Cognitive Domains
Each domain in the Assess report includes:
Domain Impression – Likely Cognitive Impairment, Borderline Cognitive Impairment, or Unlikely Cognitive Impairment.
Score – 0 to 200, adjusted for age and device, plus education level where applicable.
Population Percentile – Where the patient falls relative to healthy peers.
When to Use Results for Follow-Up
Use Likely Cognitive Impairment or Borderline Cognitive Impairment results to guide further evaluation, referrals, or care planning.
Use domain-specific scores to focus functional and ADL (Activities of Daily Living) questions.
Document results to support insurance coverage for follow-up services and care planning.
Use the Interpretation Guide, which appears alongside the report, for results-based next-step recommendations and language for reviewing findings with the patient.