Orthopedic Coding Alert

Heres when to append modifiers GA, GY, and GZ. Services a patients insurer doesnt cover (but the patient requests or surgeon recommends) could mean your practice is at risk for fronting the bill, but you can save yourself money and headaches by reaching for an advance beneficiary notice (ABN) and appending modifier GA. Your patient will be the one paying instead. Modifier GA Gets You Paid on Injection Overuse 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. Beware: You should never give out ABNs as a standard, across-the-board practice, warns Debra Murphy, patient account rep and medical billing specialist with more than fifteen years experience at Resurgens Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Austell, Ga. You should use ABNs only when they apply. The proper time to have the patient sign [...]