Billing and Coding: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Colonoscopy

Do not bill colonoscopy procedure codes when a sigmoidoscope is used on a normal-length colon (unless the bowel is demonstrably short and documentation confirms the entire colon was examined); payment may be recovered if colonoscope information is not provided. Incomplete colonoscopies must be billed with modifier -53 on codes 44388, 45378, G0105 or G0121 (44388-53 valid 1/1/2016) and are paid at half value beginning 1/1/2016, modifier 22 may be used for unusually difficult procedures, and the most specific ICD-10-CM diagnosis must be linked to the procedure.