Anesthesia Coding Alert

Pain management specialties might make use of modifier 52 as well. The situation is bound to happen: A patient undergoing surgery has complications, and your anesthesiologist must stop his services. Are you prepared to recognize a situation that calls for modifier 53 (Discontinued procedure) or even modifier 52 (Reduced services)? Learn the specific criteria for reporting each modifier to ensure successful coding every time. Patient Status Often Determines 53 Use You will use modifier 53 when a procedure ends due to a threat to the patient's well-being or other extenuating circumstances. For example, the surgeon performs a preop assessment, but during the evaluation he detects a carotid bruit (785.9, Other symptoms involving cardiovascular system), so he delays the surgery indefinitely until a better evaluation can be made. Documentation clue: You can only use modifier 53 after anesthesia administration and/or a surgical preparation took place, and the procedure was actually started. [...]