Post operative period Billing - Modifier usage

POST-OPERATIVE PERIOD BILLING

Unrelated Procedure or Service or E/M Service by the Same Physician During a Post-operative Period.

Two CPT modifiers are used to simplify billing for visits and other procedures that are furnished during the post-operative period of a surgical procedure, but not included in the payment for surgical procedure. These modifiers are:

• Modifier “-79” (Unrelated procedure or service by the same physician during a post-operative period).

The physician may need to indicate that a procedure or service furnished during a post-operative period was unrelated to the original procedure. A new post-operative period begins when the unrelated procedure is billed.

• Modifier “-24” (Unrelated E/M service by the same physician during a post-operative period). The physician may need to indicate that an E/M service was furnished during the post-operative period of an unrelated procedure. An E/M service billed with modifier “-24” must be accompanied by documentation that supports that the service is not related to the post-operative care of the procedure. Special Reporting for Certain Practitioners for CPT code 99024 Practitioners are required to report post-operative E/M visits using CPT code 99024 if they:

• Practice in one of the following nine states: Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, or Rhode Island; and

• Practice in a group of ten or more practitioners;

• Practitioners who only practice in practices with fewer than 10 practitioners are exempted from required reporting, but are encouraged to report if feasible and,

• Provide global services under one of the required procedure codes. The required procedure codes are those that are furnished by more than 100 practitioners and either are nationally furnished more than 10,000 times annually or have more than $10 million in annual allowed charges.

The term “practitioner” is used to refer to both physicians and nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) who are permitted to bill Medicare under the PFS for services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries (see 81 FR 80172). This  reporting is required for post-operative visits during the global period for procedures with dates of service on or after July 1, 2017. For more information, see Claims-Based Reporting Requirements for Post-Operative Visits. Codes for Which Reporting on Post-Operative Visits is Required As of January 1, 2018, there are some changes made to the list of codes for which reporting is required.

These changes are made necessary by changes in the coding system.

The following CPT codes no longer need to be reported: CPT codes 15732, 34802, and 34825 are deleted. Reporting is not required after December 31, 2017.

CPT codes 30140, 36470, and 36471 have a 0-day global period so reporting is not needed.