Wiki AS and 62 together?

Victoria323

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during a spine surgery, two surgeons and one surgeons PA- denial came back for 20600 for PA's claim and reason was that AS is inconsistent with procedure.

Do I add the 62 with AS? How can I bill this out? The ortho surgeon had modifier 62 with 20600, but the PA is also trying to bill out that procedure with the AS- do I put 62 and AS for the PA's portion?
 
Assisting at surgery and acting as co-surgeon are two separate things so you would never use both of these modifiers at the same time. A PA is not qualified to be a co-surgeon, so the 62 modifier would be inappropriate - I would bill it will just AS. However, I'd note that Medicare policy does not allow payment for an assistant in addition to two co-surgeons - the fee for the two physicians is intended to cover the entire procedure and there is no separate payment allowed for an additional participant in the surgery.
 
CPT code 20600 does not accept modifier -AS, which is the only applicable modifier for determining PA as assistant at surgery. Thomas is correct, - 62 never allowed for PA.
 
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