tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2008 Issue 1

Reader Question: Unrelated E/M During Post-Op Period Calls for 24

Question: I know to use modifier 78 for a return to the operating room for a post-op infection, but what about the hospital admission service? Can I use modifier 24? Virginia Subscriber Answer: When an E/M service occurs during a postoperative global period, but for reasons unrelated to the original procedure, you may append modifier 24 (Unrelated evaluation and management service by the same physician during a postoperative period) to the appropriate E/M code, including hospital admission services (99221-99223). By appending modifier 24 to the E/M code, you make the payer aware that the surgeon is seeing the patient...

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