Surgery Services: Payment

Surgical services and other invasive procedures are listed in the surgery and medicine section of the American Medical Association’s Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code book. The MassHealth agency pays for all medicine and surgery CPT codes in effect at the time of service, except for those codes listed in Section 602 of Subchapter 6 of the Podiatrist Manual, subject to all conditions and limitations described in MassHealth regulations at 130 CMR 424.000 and 450.000. (A) Visit and Treatment/Procedure on Same Day in Same Location. The MassHealth agency pays a podiatrist for either a visit or a treatment/procedure, whichever fee is greater. The MassHealth agency does not pay for both a preoperative evaluation and management visit, and a treatment/procedure provided to a member on the same day when they are performed in the same location. For minor surgeries and endoscopies, the MassHealth agency does not pay separately for an evaluation and management service on the same day as the surgery or endoscopy. (B) Payment for Global Surgical Package. The payment for a surgical procedure includes a standard package of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative services. The services are included in the global surgical package regardless of setting, including but not limited to hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and podiatrists’ offices. (1) The following services are included in the payment for a global surgery when furnished by the podiatrist who performs the surgery: (a) preoperative visits; (b) intraoperative visits; (c) complications following surgery; (d) postoperative visits; (e) postsurgical pain management; (f) miscellaneous services related to surgery, including but not limited to dressing changes; local incisional care; removal of operative pack, cutaneous sutures and staples, lines, wires, tubes, drains, casts, and splints; insertion, irrigation, and removal of urinary catheters, routine peripheral intravenous lines, nasogastric tubes, and rectal tubes; and changes and removal of tracheostomy tubes; and (g) visits related to the surgery to a patient in an intensive care or critical care unit, if made by the podiatrist. Intensive or critical care visits unrelated to surgery are not included in the global surgical package. (2) The following services are not included in the payment for a global surgery: (a) the initial consultation or evaluation of the problem by the podiatrist to determine the need for surgery; (b) services of other podiatrists except where the surgeon and the other podiatrist or podiatrists agree on the transfer of care during the global period. Such transfer agreement must be in writing and a copy of the written transfer agreement must be kept in the member’s medical record; (c) visits unrelated to the diagnosis for which the surgical procedure is performed; (d) treatment for the underlying condition or an added course of treatment that is not part of the normal recovery from the surgery; (e) diagnostic tests and procedures, including diagnostic radiological procedures; (f) clearly distinct surgical procedures during the postoperative period that are not reoperations or treatment for complications resulting from the surgery. A new postoperative period begins with the subsequent surgical procedure. This exception includes procedures done in two or more parts for which the decision to stage the procedure is made prospectively or a the time of the first procedure; (g) treatment for postoperative complications that require a return trip to the operating room (OR). An OR for this purpose is defined as a place of service specifically equipped and staffed for the sole purpose of performing procedures. The term includes a cardiac catheterization suite, a laser suite, and an endoscopy suite. It does not include a patient’s room, a minor treatment room, a recovery room, or an intensive care unit (unless the patient’s condition was so critical that there would be insufficient time for transportation to an OR); and (h) a second, more extensive procedure required because the initial, less extensive procedure did not produce the desired outcome. (C) Payment for Multiple Surgeries. Multiple surgeries are separate procedures performed by a podiatrist on the same patient at the same operative session or on the same day. Multiple surgeries are distinguished from intraoperative services and surgeries that are incidental to or components of a primary surgery (that is, bundled services). Bundled services are not paid separately. When two or more related procedures are performed on a patient during a single session or visit, the MassHealth agency pays the provider for the comprehensive code and denies or adjusts the component, incidental, or mutually exclusive procedure performed during the same session. The bundling guidelines that MassHealth applies are based upon generally accepted industry guidelines including, but not limited to the Correct Coding Initiative administered through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Medical Association’s Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code book. To receive payment for multiple surgeries, the surgeon must bill with the multiple surgery modifier. (D) Payment for Multiple Endoscopy Procedures. When multiple procedures are performed through the same endoscope, payment is made for the highest valued endoscopy procedure plus the difference between the next highest valued endoscopy procedure and the base endoscopy procedure. The base endoscopy procedure is included in the code for each of the multiple procedures. When two related endoscopies and an unrelated endoscopy are performed, the endoscopic payment rule stated above applies to the related endoscopies. Unrelated endoscopic procedures are treated as separate surgeries and paid as multiple surgeries pursuant to 130 CMR 424.414(C). (E) Payment for Add-on Surgical Procedures. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has identified certain procedures as add-on procedures that are always billed with another procedure. Add-on codes are identified in the CPT code book. By definition, these services do not stand alone and must be provided in conjunction with a primary surgical procedure or qualifying service. Both the service code for the primary procedure and add-on code are paid separately. The global surgery package provisions at 130 CMR 424.413 and 424.414 apply to the service code for the primary procedure. (F) Payment for Bilateral Procedures. Bilateral surgeries are defined as procedures performed on both sides of the body during the same operative session or on the same day. To receive payment, the podiatrist must use the bilateral surgery modifier with the appropriate service code. The provider must not use the bilateral surgery modifier with service codes containing the terms “bilateral” or “unilateral or bilateral” in their definitions, since the terminology of the code identifies the service as one whose payment accounts for any additional work required for bilateral surgery. (G) Surgical Assistants. Some surgical procedures require a primary surgeon and an assistant surgeon. A surgical assistant must meet the requirements for provider eligibility specified in 130 CMR 424.404. To receive payment, the assistant surgeon must use the appropriate modifier. Surgical codes that accept the surgical assistant modifiers are indicated in the Correct Coding Initiative Guide. In addition, the MassHealth agency does not pay for a surgical assistant if (1) any component of the surgery is billed using a team surgery modifier pursuant to 130 CMR 424.414(H) or a two-surgeon modifier pursuant to 130 CMR 424.414(I); (2) the surgery services were provided in a teaching hospital that has an approved training program related to the medical specialty required for the surgical procedure and a qualified resident available to perform the services. If no qualified resident is available to perform the services, the MassHealth agency pays for a surgical assistant if the member’s medical record documents that a qualified resident was unavailable at the time of the surgery; or (3) the surgical procedure does not require the services of more than one surgeon. (H) Team Surgery. Under some circumstances, the MassHealth agency pays for highly complex surgical procedures requiring the concomitant services of more than two surgeons as “team surgery.” The MassHealth agency pays a single consolidated payment for team surgery to the director of the surgical team. To receive payment, the director of the team must use the team surgery modifier. Payment includes all surgical assistant fees. The director of the surgical team is expected to distribute the MassHealth payment to the other members of the surgical team. (I) Two Surgeons (Co-Surgery). The MassHealth agency pays for co-surgery when two surgeons work together as primary surgeons performing distinct parts of a reportable procedure. To receive payment, each surgeon must use the two surgeons modifier. Payment includes all surgical assistant fees.