November 16, 2023

Question:
When two surgeons work together as primary surgeons performing distinct part(s) of the procedure, and each surgeon reports his/her distinct operative work, what modifier is appended?

Answer:
When two surgeons work together as primary surgeons performing distinct parts of a procedure, each surgeon should report his/her distinct operative work by adding modifier -62 to the CPT code that supports the documentation. The modifier indicates that two surgeons worked together as primary surgeons and performed separate portions of the procedure. Each surgeon needs to separately document their involvement on the procedure.

*This response is based on the best information available as of 11/16/23.