What is the 52 modifier for reimbursement?

Asked by: Lonzo Rutherford  |  Last update: August 2, 2025
Score: 4.3/5 (36 votes)

These modifiers are used to report procedures that are discontinued by the physician due to unforeseen circumstances. Modifier -52 is used to indicate partial reduction or discontinuation of radiology procedures and other services that do not require anesthesia.

Does modifier 52 affect reimbursement?

There are no industry standards for reimbursement of claims billed with modifier 52 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or other professional organizations. UnitedHealthcare's standard for reimbursement of Modifier 52 is 50% of the Allowable Amount for the unmodified procedure.

What is the 52 modifier used for?

Something to remember is modifier 52 applies when a reduction in service occurs by choice (either the provider's or patient's). Key words or phrases to consider modifier 52 would be the use of the word partially, to be reduced, or part of procedure was not completed.

What is the difference between modifier 52 and modifier 53?

By definition, modifier 53 is used to indicate a discontinued procedure and modifier 52 indicates reduced services. In both the cases, a modifier should be appended to the CPT code that represents the basic service performed during a procedure. Choosing between modifiers 53 and 52 can sometimes be confusing.

What is a reimbursement modifier?

Modifiers provide additional information to payers to make sure your provider gets paid correctly for services rendered. If appropriate, more than one modifier may be used with a single procedure code; however, are not applicable for every category of the CPT codes.

When To Use A Modifier in Medical Coding

36 related questions found

Does modifier 59 change reimbursement?

Basically, when you append modifier 59 to one of the CPT codes in an edit pair, it signals to the payer that you provided both services in the pair separately and independently of one another—meaning that you also should receive separate payment for each procedure.

How do you categorize reimbursement?

Add the expense and reimbursement to your accounting records. You may choose to add the reimbursement as a short-term loan so that it disappears from your books after the client pays it. Another option is to list your original payment under expenses and the repayment from the client under revenue or income.

What is the reimbursement for modifier 53?

CPT modifier 53 indicates procedure discontinued by physician or other qualified health care professional and may not be reported by facilities. Reimbursement for discontinued procedure with modifier 53 is 25% of the allowable amount.

How does modifier 54 affect reimbursement?

Payments Could Be Impacted: Reimbursement to surgeons using modifier -54 will be limited to only the preoperative and surgical portions of the global fee. The provider(s) who deliver post-operative care bill(s) separately for their services.

What is the 52 and 73 modifier?

Modifier -52 applies to radiological procedures. Modifiers -73, and -74 apply only to certain diagnostic and surgical procedures that require anesthesia. Following are some general guidelines for using modifiers. They are in the form of questions to be considered.

Can modifier 52 be used for a facility?

Coding and Billing for Facility Services

When coding and billing for a facility, the 52 modifier is used to indicate a partial reduction or discontinuation of radiology procedures or services that do not require anesthesia.

What is an example of a modifier 53?

Example Three:

A surgeon has a patient under anesthesia and fully prepared to proceed with surgery. However, the physician cuts himself and therefore cannot carry out the operation. Modifier 53 may apply to the surgical CPT to indicate an extenuating circumstance that prevented the procedure from being performed.

When should modifier 51 be used?

Modifier 51 Multiple Procedures indicates that multiple procedures were performed at the same session. It applies to: Different procedures performed at the same session. A single procedure performed multiple times at different sites.

How do you use modifier 52?

Modifier 52 is outlined for use with surgical or diagnostic CPT codes in order to indicate reduced or eliminated services. This means modifier 52 should be applied to CPTs which represent diagnostic or surgical services that were reduced by the provider by choice.

What is the reimbursement for modifier as?

Reported by a non-physician provider (NPP) with modifier -AS appended will be reimbursed at the following rates: • Commercial: 10% of the established fee for the primary surgery. Medicare Advantage: 13.6% of the established fee for the primary surgery. Medicaid: 16% of the established fee for the primary surgery.

How is modifier 50 reimbursed?

This denotes that the procedure is unilateral, as described in CPT®, and can be appropriately billed as a bilateral procedure with modifier 50 appended. Medicare will pay this procedure at 150 percent of the allowed amount, subject to the patient's deductible and coinsurance.

How much does modifier 52 reduced reimbursement?

Policy statement. Procedure codes submitted with modifier 52 will be reimbursed at a reduced rate. Our health plan reimburses procedure(s) appended with modifier 52 at 50% of the allowable amount. Procedure codes for any other procedure not performed at all should not be additionally reported.

Does modifier 52 affect payment?

Append modifier to the reduced procedure's CPT code. Ambulatory surgical centers (ASC) use modifier 52 to indicate the discontinuance of a procedure not requiring anesthesia. Contractors apply a 50 percent payment reduction for discontinued radiology and other procedures not requiring anesthesia.

What is the 57 modifier for reimbursement?

Modifier 57 should be appended to any E/M service on the day of or the day before said procedure when the E/M service results in the decision to go to surgery. This informs the payer that the physician determined the surgery was medically necessary. Modifier 57 should only be appended to E/M codes.

What is the modifier 63 for reimbursement?

When a provider reports an eligible procedure or service with modifier 63 appended, reimbursement will be 120% of the established fee. Modifiers 63 and 22 cannot be billed on the same code.

What is the reimbursement for modifier 54?

Reimbursement Calculation Using Modifier 54

Usually, the breakdown of reimbursement rate in the whole global surgery package is as follows: Preoperative evaluation (8-12% of the global package) Intra-operative procedure (70-80% of the global package) Postoperative care (7-20% of the global package)

How does modifier 58 affect reimbursement?

When you apply modifier 58 to a procedure, it re-starts the global period and results in full payment for each procedure. On the flip side, modifier 78 does not break the original global period and will result in a reduction in payment based on each individual payer's fee schedules.

How do you account for reimbursed expenses?

How do you account for reimbursable expenses? Reimbursable expenses are recorded on an income statement by debiting the specific expense account (like travel expenses or office supplies) and crediting cash or accounts payable.

What is the difference between a refund and a reimbursement?

If your business issues a refund to a customer, you should also cancel the related invoice with a credit note. Reimbursement is the act of giving someone money if they've purchased something on your behalf, so they're not out of pocket for the amount they have spent.

What type of reimbursement is not taxable?

Similar to business meals, travel reimbursements are non-taxable if the purpose is sufficiently documented and receipts are provided. In addition to the receipts, keep a record of where the employee traveled to and what they were doing there (including who was visited or what event was intended if applicable).