Craniosynostosis Co-surgery Question

Question:

We have a new plastic surgeon who will start doing craniosynostosis surgery with a pediatric neurosurgeon. Will this be co-surgery using modifier 62?

Answer:

Potentially yes. It will depend on which surgeon does what part of the procedure. All the craniosynostosis codes (61550 – 61559) accept modifier 62 so if both the plastic surgeon and neurosurgeon do different parts of that CPT code then modifier 62 would be appropriate. If the plastic surgeon does other work such as orbital advancement then the plastic surgeon may separately report that code(s) which might not be co-surgery. It’s going to all depend on the documentation.