Below are some reimbursement guides that go over pro/tech billing. Although the GE Ultrasound reimbursement gude states:
TC-Technical Component
This modifier would be used to bill for services by the owner
of the equipment only to report the technical component of
the service.
There are limiations to that statement.
http://www.medtronic.com/wcm/groups...documents/documents/nim_eclipse_reimburse.pdf
"The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule does not recognize global billing in
the facility setting..."
Professional Services in a
Facility Setting
For services provided in a facility setting, including those to hospital
inpatients and to hospital outpatients, the physician should bill only for the
professional component by using modifier –26. There are several reasons
for this, all related to statutes or Medicare coverage policy. In essence,
only the hospital can provide the technical portion of a hospital service
and a physician can provide only the professional portion of the diagnostic
tests when they are provided in the facility setting. (Please see the section
titled “Separate Reimbursement for Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring” for
more information.)
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http://www.gehealthcare.com/usen/community/reimbursement/docs/AN2010ReimbursementGuide.pdf
Hospital Outpatient or Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC)
If the site of service is a hospital (inpatient, outpatient or emergency department) or an ASC and the anesthesia provider is performing the ultrasound guidance, the –26 modifier
(professional service only) should be appended to the CPT code for the imaging service.
Based on the Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), beginning in 2008, the technical component of image guidance procedures that are performed in the hospital
outpatient department or in the ASC are considered a packaged service. This means that the payment to the facility for these services is included in the payment for the primary procedure.