Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Question: Thank you for the informative articles on the CPT changes for 2011. We have already adjusted our superbills and started billing some of the new codes. I have not heard anything on modifier changes for this year -- are there any we should be aware of? Answer: This year it is important to know about a few new modifiers, as well as some revisions to existing CPT modifiers. 2011 adds several new modifiers to your coding arsenal and updates the descriptors for several others you might often use. For example, you can use modifier GU (Waiver of liability statement issued as required by payer policy, routine notice) for dates of service Jan. 1, 2011 and thereafter. You might have times when it's appropriate to report modifier GU instead of the revised standby modifier GA (Waiver of liability statement on file; individual). Medicare hasn't yet provided instructions for correctly reporting modifier [...]