Wiki Hernia repair

[amanda19791]

Patient had right inguinal hernia repair back in June 2019 and later was seen for a follow up. During the follow-up patient noted to have left inguinal hernia. Should a 58 modifier be applied to the second hernia repair?

Any suggestions would be greatly accepted.

 

[Munzueta]

No it shouldn't, keep in mind modifier 58 "staged or related procedure" is mostly use for cases when the procedure is "planned" or "staged" meaning they know in advance that the patient will require more than 1 surgery to fix 1 problem overall.

Hope it helps!