Wiki coding E/M within global for other eye

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Can I bill an E/M with the appropriate modifier (25) if the decision to do cataract surgery to the other eye is decided during a patient's post operative exam?
 
The decison to perfrom cataract sx, would be a 57 not a 25. If your documentation states the pt was there for an eval of the non-surgical eye and not as a post-op, yes, you could bill for that exam. However, you would want to use a 24 (exam in post-op period) unless you were taking the pt to surgery that day or the next, then you would used both 24 and 57. Some will argue that you would assign the 57 either way because it's the decison for surgery.
 
No 57

You do NOT need the -57 modifier unless you are performing the surgery that day or the next day. -24 modifier would be used to indicate it is unrelated to the first surgery.

NOTE ... if you had previously decided you would remove cataracts from both eyes, but were doing them "one-at-a-time" then this is NOT a decision for surgery. It's just deciding when to schedule the second surgery.

Hope that helps.

F Tessa Bartels, CPC, CEMC
 
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