INDUSTRY NOTES:
Here's Help For Your Modifier JW Rejections
Published on Mon Jan 12, 2009
Plus: CMS offers quick primer on billing/coding services performed in ambulatory surgical centers. You may not have to waste any time appealing rejected claims that contain modifier JW, according to a recent carrier update. National Government Services, a Part B payer in 25 states, announced on Feb. 3 that its system was inappropriately rejecting claims appended with modifier JW (Drug amount discarded/not administered to any patient). "The JWmodifier was inappropriately hitting our system with a termination date of December 31, 2008," the notice said. "MCS is being updated to remove that termination date. Once the system is corrected we will identify the claims that were rejected inappropriately. Those claims will then be adjudicated to process properly." Codes affected by the edit included J0000-J9999,Q3025, Q3026, Q4079, and Q9955-Q9957.