Practicefirst would like to notify our clients about a NCCI update that is effective July 1, 2019. National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) procedure to procedure (PTP) edits consist of column one and column two codes.
If a PTP edit has a CCMI (Correct Coding Modifier Indicator) of "1", the PTP edit shall be bypassed if submitted with an NCCI-associated modifier. Modifiers 59, XE, XS, XP, and XU are included among the NCCI-associated modifiers.
MCS (Multi-carrier system for Medicare contractors) currently requires that modifiers 59, XE, XS, XP, or XU be appended to the column two code of a PTP edit in order to bypass the edit.
Effective on or after July 1, 2019, CMS will now allow the modifier 59, XE, XS, XP, or XU on column one or column two codes. See Transmittal 2259 for more information:
