- Anesthesia Modifiers
- Appropriate Usage of Modifier 99
- Assistants at Surgery at Teaching Hospitals
- Bundled Services Missing Appropriate Modifiers at Time of Initial Claim Submission
- Clarification for Billing Services on Fingers and Toes Using Modifiers F1-F9, FA, TI-T9 and TA vs. Modifier 50
- Correct Usage of Modifier 79 for Multiple Procedures
- Co-Surgery/Team Surgery/Assistant Surgery Modifiers
- Modifier 25
- Modifier 33
- Modifier 51
- Modifier 52 Claim Submission Billing Reminder
- Modifier 59 and the Subset Modifiers XE, XP, XS, XU - Specific Modifiers for Distinct Procedural Services
- Modifier 90 Reference to Outside Laboratory
- Modifiers Used in CMS-1500 Claim Reporting
- Modifier Usage
- Proper Billing of Surgical Comanagement (Modifiers 54 and 55)
- Proper Use of Modifiers 59 and 91
- Reminder for Submission of Modifier 22
- Repeat Procedures - Modifiers 76 and 77
Clarification for Billing Services on Fingers and Toes Using Modifiers F1-F9, FA, TI-T9 and TA vs. Modifier 50
National Government Services has identified some providers who have been billing for services on the fingers and/or the toes with modifier 50. Modifier 50 indicates a bilateral service. For a service to be bilateral according to the definition, you must have one body part on each side of the body. Since there are 10 fingers/toes, the billing must be specific to which finger/toe the service is for by utilizing the appropriate modifier(s).
Modifiers F1-F9 and FA are to be reported for the appropriate finger. Modifiers T1-T9 and TA are to be reported for the appropriate toe. Please make sure that when you submit a service to Medicare on a specific finger, or toe, that you are using one of these modifiers. Do not use modifier 50 to indicate a service was done on one finger on the left hand and one finger on the right hand as that will cause your claim to reject.
An example would be a patient receiving tenotomy on the first finger past the thumb of the left hand. The billing for this procedure would be 26460F1 to indicate the specific finger on which the procedure was performed. Billing 26460LT would not identify which finger and would be inappropriate billing.
Proper finger modifiers for usage with Medicare claim submissions are:
- FA – Left hand, thumb
- F1 – Left hand, second digit
- F2 – Left hand, third digit
- F3 – Left hand, fourth digit
- F4 – Left hand, fifth digit
- F5 – Right hand, thumb
- F6 – Right hand, second digit
- F7 – Right hand, third digit
- F8 – Right hand, fourth digit
- F9 – Right hand, fifth digit
Proper toe modifiers for usage with Medicare claim submissions are:
- TA – Left foot, thumb
- T1 – Left foot, second digit
- T2 – Left foot, third digit
- T3 – Left foot, fourth digit
- T4 – Left foot, fifth digit
- T5 – Right foot, thumb
- T6 – Right foot, second digit
- T7 – Right foot, third digit
- T8 – Right foot, fourth digit
- T9 – Right foot, fifth digit
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Revised 9/28/2023