Modifier 63 reminder (professional)

According to Appendix A of the CPT Professional Edition codebook, modifier 63 is only used when an invasive procedure is performed on neonates or infants up to a present body weight of 4 kg to indicate significantly increased complexity and physician or other qualified health care professional work commonly associated with these patients.  Unless otherwise designated, this modifier should only be appended to the procedures/services identified in the modifier description. 

 

Additionally, based on the modifier description, modifier 63 is not valid for use with evaluation and management, anesthesia, radiology, pathology/laboratory, or medicine codes.  Furthermore, many procedures performed on infants for correction of congenital abnormalities include additional difficulty or complexity that are inherent to the procedure and are identified by the code nomenclature and the CPT parenthetical “do not use modifier 63 in conjunction with…”  These codes are also identified in Appendix F of the CPT Professional Edition codebook.  Please note, incorrect reporting of modifier 63 may result in claim denials.