Assistant Surgery, Co-Surgery and Team Surgery: Modifier Required

Published 05/29/2020

If you participated as an assistant surgeon, co-surgeon or team surgeon, you must add the appropriate modifier to the surgical procedure(s). Pay special attention to the descriptions of the modifiers in this article to ensure you are submitting the one appropriate for your service.

HCPCS Modifier AS
Assistant Surgeon (nonphysician).
  • Physician assistant, nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist services who participated as an assistant to a surgeon
  • Procedure codes that have an ASST 0 indicator on the MPFSDB must be submitted with supporting documentation
CPT Modifier 62
Co-Surgeons (working together as primary surgeons).
  • Surgeon who performed surgery(s) with another surgeon; both surgeons must add CPT Modifier 62 to the surgical procedure
  • Procedure codes that have a CO-SURG 1 indicator on the MPFSDB must be submitted with supporting documentation
CPT Modifier 66
Team Surgeons (for highly complex procedures; often requiring different physician specialties).
  • Surgeon who performed surgery(s) with two or more other surgeons; all surgeons must add CPT Modifier 66 to the surgical procedure
  • Procedure codes that have a TEAM 1 or 2 indicator on the MPFSDB must be submitted with supporting documentation
CPT Modifier 80
Assistant Surgeon (Physician).
  • Surgeon who participated as an assistant to a surgeon
  • Procedure codes that have an ASST 0 indicator on the MPFSDB must be submitted with supporting documentation
CPT Modifier 81
Minimum Assistant Surgeon.
  • Surgeon who participated as an assistant to a surgeon
  • Procedure codes that have an ASST 0 indicator on the MPFSDB must be submitted with supporting documentation
CPT Modifier 82
Assistant Surgeon (when qualified resident surgeon not available).
  • Surgeon who participated as an assistant to a surgeon
  • Procedure codes that have an ASST 0 indicator on the MPFSDB must be submitted with supporting documentation

Check out the additional information and coding requirements for these modifiers on our web site. Look for the Modifier Lookup tool on our home page.

Refer to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (PDF, 1.1 MB), Chapter 12, Sections 20.4.3, 40.8, 100.1.7 and 110 for more information regarding CMS' requirements for these modifiers.

Refer to CMS' MPFSDB Lookup tool to view the ASST, CO-SURG and TEAM indicators assigned to procedure codes.


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