HCPro, JustCoding Outpatient - 2015 Issue 9 (March)

Q&A: Why do we hit an edit when adding potassium to a metabolic panel?

March 4th, 2015

Q: I have a question regarding a National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edit. I reported CPT® code 80053 (comprehensive metabolic panel) and 84132 (potassium; serum, plasma or whole blood), resulting in an NCCI conflict. This code pair does allow modifier -59 (distinct procedural service) to be appended to one of the codes to be paid for both tests. Does it matter if we append modifier -59 to the primary code or the secondary?\
 
In my case, sometimes the secondary code is already dropped into the system and now the edit is asking me to append the modifier. Can I add modifier -59 to 80053 whether it's the primary code or not?

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