by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
Feb 11th, 2017
The following modifiers are required when reporting medically necessary routine foot care services per Medicare guidelines:
- Q7: One Class A finding
- Q8: Two Class B findings
- Q9: One Class B and two Class C findings
Usage:
- Appropriate: With foot care (podiatry) codes to indicate covered foot care
- Inappropriate:
- With any code not related to foot care
- When the foot care is routine and does not meet CMS medical necessity guidelines
Definitions
Class A Findings (Q7)
- Non traumatic amputation of foot or integral skeletal portion thereof
Class B Findings (Q8)
- Absent posterior tibial pulse
- Absent dorsalis pedis pulse
- Advanced trophic changes; three of the following are required:
- hair growth (decrease or absence)
- nail changes (thickening)
- pigmentary changes (discoloration)
- skin texture (thin, shiny)
- skin color (rubor or redness)
Class C Findings (Q9)
- Claudication
- Temperature changes
- Edema
- Paresthesia
- Burning
About Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
Wyn Staheli is the Director of Content Research for innovHealth. She has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. With her degree in Management Information Systems (MIS), she has been a programmer for a large insurance carrier as well as a California hospital system. She is also the author and editor of many medical resource books and the founder of InstaCode Institute.