Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Tip: Append both op notes when you submit to payers.Watch your neurosurgeon's op note for second surgeon signs -- did another surgeon assist with approach or closure, for instance? If so, you'll have to take some additional steps to gain fair payment.When two surgeons work together to perform distinct portions of a procedure CPT identifies with a single reportable code, you'll need to apply modifier 62 (Two surgeons).Suppose a neurosurgeon performs an anterior approach arthrodesis, and requests a general surgeon to expose the surgical area and close the patient following the procedure. The neurosurgeon performs the arthrodesis, along with related bone graft and instrumentation procedures."When a general surgeon does the exposure for a spine case, [use] modifier 62," says Myra P. Anderson, CPC, CCAT, CPAT, coding educator with Ochsner Health System. "Both surgeons are performing distinct portions of the procedure," she notes.The neurosurgeon and general surgeon should report the same CPT [...]