Wiki Assistant surgeons guidelines

[Kstrobel]

In the past, my doctors have stated the assistant was present and assisted with the entire operation, but I have one doctor that says one assistant opened and another closed. I haven't had much luck getting two assistants paid. When there are cosurgeons - mod 62, one will often open and close while the other does the rest of the surgical portion- the cpt is split, is it the same with mod AS? I can't find any guidelines regarding how much an assistant has to perform to be able to charge for it. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks for any discussion or answers!
Karen Strobel

 

[csperoni]

Modifier -AS is specifically only for a non-physician provider assisting (PA, NP, etc). I am not aware of any carrier that will pay for multiple assists.
If the assisting surgeon did not assist the entire procedure, you may want to look at modifier -81 minimum assistant surgeon. I don't know what the exact requirement is for -81 vs -80. If it was a one time thing, I would ask which of the assistant surgeons was present for more of the procedure and bill that with -81 & nothing for the other assist. If this is an ongoing thing, you may want to investigate further and also inquire why this is occurring.