Pain Management:
25, 50, and 59: Check That You Use These 3 Modifiers Correctly
Published on Mon Jul 11, 2011
Knowing what to append -- and when -- can help your injection claims.Last month's issue of Neurology and Pain Management Coding Alert dove into some common injections you might see for interventional pain management -- facet, paravertebral facet, epidural, nerve, and more. Providers might perform many of these injections in conjunction with another service, which means you might not simply report the injection on your claim. Brush up on how -- and when -- to append four common modifiers and ensure accurate injection pay.Add Modifier 25 to Associated E/M VisitIf your pain management provider administers an unrelated injection during a standard E/M visit, remember modifier 25 (Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician on the same day of the procedure or other service).Example: A patient visits your office for a follow-up for his chronic low back pain. During the evaluation, he also complains of left elbow pain, which the physician [...]