To communicate that a physician is providing a service in an unlisted health professional shortage area (HPSA), the coder should append modifier:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Modifier AQ is used to indicate that a service was provided in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) that is not automatically identified by Medicare through the processing of claims based on the ZIP code. This modifier is specifically for situations where the provider needs to manually indicate that the service was rendered in an HPSA.

To Communicate That a Physician Is Providing a Service in an Unlisted