Otolaryngology Coding Alert

Maintain your written correspondence's look, experts say

If you noticed that this Otolaryngology Coding Alert issue includes no hyphen before the modifiers, you don't need to have your eyes examined.

The AMA has dropped the hyphen from its modifier publications, including CPT coding manuals and CPT Assistant. "The hyphen was always symbolic," says Dennis Padget, president of Padget and Associates in Simpsonville, Ky. Here's what the change means to you:

No More 'Human Mind Convenience'

A hyphen will no longer alert you that a modifier is coming up. The AMA used the hyphen as a formatting convention to ensure that people realized an upcoming number was a modifier, Padget says. "It was a convenience to the human mind."

The symbol avoided numerical confusion. "The hyphen alerted you that the final two digits, such as -25, weren't part of the CPT code," says Gretchen Segado, MS, CPC, director of reimbursement compliance at New York University School of Medicine.

Text Now Mirrors Claim Entries 
 
You're probably used to looking at modifiers without a hyphen preface. "The hyphen never mattered for charge entry," Segado says.

On a CMS-1500 written or electronic claim, you enter the five-digit CPT code and then enter the modifier in a separate place. The written world will now mirror that method. "I don't think the change will really matter," Segado says.

The change's affect: Modifier -25 becomes modifier 25. Coding Institute publications will, however, maintain the hyphen when designating a modifier-appended CPT code, such as 99202-25 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient; significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician on the same day of the procedure or other service).

Don't Reformat Your Appeal Letters

You may think written correspondence should reflect the new streamlined modifier look. But experts don't advocate changing your modifier style. Eliminating the hyphen in your appeal form letters is unnecessary, Segado says. "The hyphen lets the reader know you didn't omit any digits from a code," she says.

The hyphen also emphasizes the modifier. "Because insurers tend to ignore modifiers, maintaining the hyphen is a good idea," says Barbara J. Cobuzzi, president of CRN Healthcare Solutions in Shrewsbury, N.J.