Practice Management Alert

Question: When the NP provides unsupervised services, I bill the codes under the nurse practitioner's number for supervised visits, I use modifier SA. Would I bill using the rendering or the supervising provider's NPI? Will payers reduce payment since for a supervised visit?Answer: You should use HCPCS Level II modifier SA (Nurse practitioner rendering service in collaboration with a physician) for supervised nurse practitioner services when the insurer requires the modifier. Some Medicaid programs such as Medi-Cal require you to apply modifier SA to all nurse practitioner (NP) services which are submitted under the physician provider number.Example: A nurse practitioner provides a level three established patient office visit to a Medi-Cal patient. The NP's physician supervises the service. To indicate the NP provided the office visit under direct supervision, you would append modifier SA to 99213.Use modifier SA for incident-to services that are billed under the supervising physician's NPI number. [...]