Pre-operative Period Billing

E /M Service Resulting in the Initial Decision to Perform Surgery

Evaluation/ Management (E/M) services on the day before major surgery or on the day of major
surgery that result in the initial decision to perform the surgery are not included in the global surgery
payment for the major surgery and, therefore, may be billed and paid separately. In addition to the CPT E/M code, modifier “-57” (Decision for surgery) is used to identify a visit that results in the initial decision to perform surgery. The modifier “-57” is not used with minor surgeries because the global period for minor surgeries does not include the day prior to the surgery. Where the decision to perform the minor procedure is typically done immediately before the service, it is considered a routine pre-operative service and a visit or consultation is not billed in addition to the procedure. Carriers/MACs may not pay for an E/M service billed with the CPT modifier “-57” if it was provided on the day of or the day before a procedure with a 0 or 10 day global surgical period.

Day of Procedure Billing

Significant, Separately Identifiable E/M Service by the Same Physician on the Same Day of the Procedure Modifier “-25” (Significant, separately identifiable E/M service by the same physician on the same day of the procedure), indicates that the patient’s condition required a significant, separately identifiable E/M service beyond the usual pre-operative and post-operative care associated with the procedure or service.

•Use modifier “-25” with the appropriate level of E/M service.
•Use modifiers “-24” (Unrelated E/M service by the same physician during a post-operative period) and “-25” when a significant, separately identifiable E/M service on the day of a procedure falls within the post-operative period of another unrelated, procedure.

Different diagnoses are not required for reporting the E/M service on the same date as the procedure or other service. Both the medically necessary E/M service and the procedure must be appropriately and sufficiently documented by the physician or qualified nonphysician practitioner in the patient’s medical record to support the claim for these services, even though the documentation is not required to be submitted with the claim.

Claims for Multiple Surgeries
Multiple surgeries are separate procedures performed by a single physician or physicians in the same group practice on the same patient at the same operative session or on the same day for which separate payment may be allowed. Co-surgeons, surgical teams, or assistants-at-surgery may participate in performing multiple surgeries on the same patient on the same day. Surgeries subject to the multiple surgery rules have an indicator of “2” in the Physician Fee Schedule look-up tool. The multiple procedure payment reduction will be applied based on the MPFS approved amount and not on the submitted amount from the providers. The major surgery may or may not be the one with the larger submitted amount.

Multiple surgeries are distinguished from procedures that are components of or incidental to a primary procedure. These intra-operative services, incidental surgeries, or components of more major surgeries are not separately billable.
There may be instances in which two or more physicians each perform distinctly different, unrelated surgeries on the same patient on the same day (for example, in some multiple trauma cases). When this occurs, the payment adjustment rules for multiple surgeries may not be appropriate.

Claims for Co-Surgeons and Team Surgeons

Under some circumstances, the individual skills of two or more surgeons are required to perform surgery on the same patient during the same operative session. This may be required because of the complex nature of the procedures and/or the patient’s condition. In these cases, the additional physicians are not acting as assistants-at-surgery. The following billing procedures apply when billing for a surgical procedure or procedures that require the use of two surgeons or a team of surgeons:

•If two surgeons (each in a different specialty) are required to perform a specific procedure, each surgeon bills for the procedure with a modifier “-62” (Two surgeons). Co-surgery also refers to surgical procedures involving two surgeons performing the parts of the procedure simultaneously, i.e., heart transplant or bilateral knee replacements. Certain services that require documentation of medical necessity for two surgeons are identified in the MPFS look-up tool.
•If a team of surgeons (more than 2 surgeons of different specialties) is required to perform a specific procedure, each surgeon bills for the procedure with a modifier “-66” (Surgical team). Certain services, as identified in the MPFS look-up tool, submitted with modifier “-66” must be sufficiently documented to establish that a team was medically necessary. All claims for team surgeons must contain sufficient information to allow pricing “by report.”

• If surgeons of different specialties are each performing a different procedure (with specific CPT codes), neither co-surgery nor multiple surgery rules apply (even if the procedures are performed through the same incision). If one of the surgeons performs multiple procedures, the multiple procedure rules apply to that surgeon’s services.

Post-Operative Period Billing

Unrelated Procedure or Service or E/M Service by the Same Physician During a Post-operative Period

Two CPT modifiers are used to simplify billing for visits and other procedures that are furnished during the post-operative period of a surgical procedure, but not included in the payment for surgical procedure.

• Modifier “-79” (Unrelated procedure or service by the same physician during a post-operative period). The physician may need to indicate that a procedure or service furnished during a post-operative period was unrelated to the original procedure. A new post-operative period begins when the unrelated procedure is billed.

• Modifier “-24” (Unrelated E/M service by the same physician during a post-operative period). The physician may need to indicate that an E/M service was furnished during the post-operative period of an unrelated procedure. An E/M service billed with modifier “-24” must be accompanied by documentation that supports that the service is not related to the post-operative care of the procedure.