The Global Period may not be what You Think!

It is important to know when a global period begins and ends, since understanding global periods can save you time and money. Knowing what is included in the global package is just as important, we will talk about that next week.

Global periods can be located on the Additional Code Information page of any CPT code.



There are three types of global periods: 000, 010, or 090.

Codes with “000” are endoscopies or some minor surgical procedures (zero day post­ operative period).

There are no pre-operative or post-operative days and a visit on the day of the procedure is generally not payable as a separate service.

Codes with “010” are other minor procedures (10-day post-operative period).

Total global period is 11 days. Count the day of the surgery and the following 10 days.

Codes with “090” are major surgeries (90-day post-operative period).

Total global period is 92 days. Count one day before the day of the surgery, the day of surgery, and the 90 days immediately following the day of surgery.

Codes with “YYY” are contractor-priced codes, for which contractors determine the global period. The global period for these codes will be 0, 10, or 90 days. Note: not all contractor-priced codes have a “YYY” global surgical indicator. Sometimes the global period is specified as 000, 010, or 090

For more information, refer to the “Medicare Claims Processing Manual,” Chapter 12, Sections 40 and 40.1

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