Is Your Family Practice Reimbursement Model on the Winning or Losing Side of CY2026’s Payment Split?

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For family practices, 2026 is not simply another year of Medicare payment updates. Changes to physician reimbursement are creating different financial effects depending on where and how care is delivered. That raises an important question for practice owners and administrators: Is your family practice reimbursement model positioned to benefit from CY2026 payment changes, or is it absorbing the downside? The answer depends on more than the headline Medicare conversion factor. Practice location, service mix, site of service, payer mix, coding, and revenue-cycle performance can all influence the actual financial outcome. Understanding these differences can help family practices make better decisions about staffing, service delivery, coding, and billing operations. The CY2026 Payment Environment Is Not Uniform A common mistake is to look at a Medicare payment update and assume every family practice will experience the same financial impact. That is rarely the case. Two family practices can...
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Correct Use of Modifiers for Podiatry Services

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Improper use of Modifiers for Podiatry Services can be the cause of claim denials just as not using a modifier can be. When using modifiers, make sure you clearly understand what the modifier entails. Sometimes, there are related services that the physician is performing, global periods to contend with, etc. Modifiers will clarify extenuating circumstances, which should allow for payment when they otherwise may not.

If the insurance company denies a claim and you rebill it by simply choosing another modifier and hoping that is the correct one, this will usually end up creating additional problems. Insurance companies may have a time limit as to how long you can file an appeal. If you continually rebill incorrectly, then by the time you send in the claims and subsequently get denied again, you may run out of the appeal window. The appeal window generally starts when you submit the initial claim. Medicare explanation of medical benefits (EOMBs) will indicate whether you can appeal a claim rather than rebill, depending on the error.

There are three specific evaluation and management (E/M) modifiers. These are the -24, -25, and -57 modifiers. Only use these modifiers with E/M services. If you append them to any other service such as a diagnostic study or procedure, the carrier will automatically deny your claim.

Modifiers for Podiatry Services are:

Modifier 24:

Unrelated Evaluation and Management by the same physician during a postoperative period. When an unrelated E/M service is performed by the same physician during the postoperative (global period -10 or 90-day postoperative period) then append modifier 24 to the E/M procedure code. Make sure that we are not assigning the same diagnosis code which is the reason for the surgery which was performed earlier, and then there would be the chance of the claim getting denied.

To know more about the Correct Use of Modifiers for Podiatry Services, click here: https://bit.ly/3KhgRMc Contact us at info@medicalbillersandcoders.com/ 888-357-3226.

Location: United States

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