Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Question:A patient came to our office for a sleep study at 9 p.m. on Monday; the study ended the next day at 7 a.m. The neurologist wrote the report on a different day. We split the bill between professional and technical components. Since we have three different dates (start, end, and report), what date of service should we assign for the technical and professional bills? Illinois Subscriber Answer:If your neurologist conducts a sleep study overnight, use the initial start date of the procedure as the date of service billed. Explanation: Always report the same date as the technical charges (which you report with the appropriate diagnostic study code and modifier TC, Technical component). Insurers look at the date a procedure is performed, not the date the physician completes the report. For that reason, the physician's professional component would be reported with the same diagnostic study code and modifier 26 (Professional [...]