tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2004 Issue 8

Reader Question: No More Starred Procedures Means More Modifiers

Question: What's the practical significance of losing the "starred designation" in CPT 2004? For example, if I perform an E/M visit and a liver biopsy (formerly a starred procedure), I would normally report 99213-25 and 47000. Now that CPT 2004 is effective and starred procedures are gone, what's the difference in coding? Tennessee SubscriberAnswer: The short answer to your question is: Your coding will not change for Medicare carriers, and for private payers you will have to begin appending modifier -25 (Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician on the same day of the procedure...

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