Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Sharpen your modifier GA, GY, and GZ skills to go along with your ABN. If you dont want to get caught absorbing the cost of an uncovered service that a patient requests or the surgeon recommends, you should reach for modifier GA and an advance beneficiary notice (ABN). Properly used, the modifier/ABN combination allows you to collect payment directly from the patient. Modifier GA Alerts Medicare of ABN The proper time to have the patient sign an ABN is before providing the service or procedure for which you want to recoup payment. In some circumstances, you may not know for certain if Medicare will cover the service. When in doubt, protect yourself and request that the patient sign an ABN. After the patient has signed the ABN, you must inform Medicare by appending modifier GA (Waiver of liability statement on file) to the CPT code describing the (suspected) noncovered service [...]