Modifier -26, with Cardiac Catheter (Q&A) (August 1998)
August 1998 page 10d
Coding Consultation
Modifier -26, with Cardiac Catheter (Q&A)
Question
My doctor did a left and right heart cardiac catheterization. We billed without use of the -26 modifier, since the physician did the work. The third-party payor says we should use the -26; who is correct?
AMA Comment
If hospital equipment is used for the catheterization, then the -26 modifier should be appended to the codes reported for the catheterization. In addition to being used to identify performance of only the interpretation of a procedure, the -26 is also used to identify the use of...
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