Documentation is required when billing modifier 24

Based on three recent widespread probes of office evaluation and management (E/M) services, First Coast Service Options (FCSO) has discovered that the 24 modifier for E/M services, when billing within a global surgery period, has been billed incorrectly at least 60 percent of the time. Clinical review of documentation demonstrates that modifier 24 was either not supported for the encounter, or was improperly applied (i.e., a different modifier should have been submitted).

To address this widespread improper billing, FCSO is implemented a pre-payment edit on April 16, 2012, applicable to office visit E/M claims (codes 99201-99205 and 99212-99215) billed with the 24 modifier.

Visit http://medicare.fcso.com/Billing_news/233831.asp for more information.