tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2004 Issue 2

Reader Question: Count Global Days With Modifiers

Question: As far as I understand, modifier -57 is appropriate when a physician makes a decision for a surgical procedure with a 90-day global period, such as 23650 (Closed treatment of shoulder dislocation, with manipulation; without anesthesia). When appending modifiers to evaluation and management codes, should I make this distinction between procedures of varying global periods, or should I append modifier -25 regardless of global days?      Arizona Subscriber Answer: Yes, the global days do matter when you're appending modifiers. According to Medicare rules, you should use modifier -57 (Decision for surgery) to represent...

To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert.

Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.