It’s not uncommon for a patient to present to the office for a visit during a surgical global period.  An example could involve a patient who had cataract surgery two months ago presenting for a previously scheduled glaucoma evaluation.

It’s very important to note that anytime a patient is seen during the global period for a reason related to surgery, the visit is included in the surgical package fee.  In other words, the visit and any related testing should not be billed.

On the other hand, if the visit is unrelated to surgery (as in the example noted above), the visit and any special testing can be submitted for reimbursement through the addition of a modifier to each.  Office visits should carry the -24 modifier while any special testing such as OCTs, VFs, or fundus photos would be appended with -79.  Here’s an example of what that might look like (assuming the requirements of 99213 were met):