Transcript

Vilayvanh Saysoukha, DPM, MS, DABPM, FASPS, FACPM:

Hi, my name is Dr. Vilayvanh Saysoukha. I am a practicing podiatrist in middle Tennessee. I am the CEO and founder of Premier Foot & Ankle Centers of Tennessee. 

A global period is basically a predetermined timeframe that's based on the wound care procedure that is performed and billed. We all know that wound care patients require a lot of time and resources, especially when infections and other complications occur. So knowing how to document properly for that procedure, as well as billing the right procedure code, is critical. A lot of my examples and experience, of course, are based on guidelines where I practice, which is in Tennessee. So I definitely would advise that you check your Medicare Administrative Contractor for any local policies regarding specific wound care procedures that will determine what kind of global period you may have for that particular wound care procedure. 

What's typically included would be any subsequent office visits related to that wound care procedure you performed. So that includes dressing changes, cleaning the wound, even debridement of the wound if it's within the designated global period. 

Well, as of this year, 2025, the more common wound care procedures have a zero or same-day global period, and we'll briefly go over that real quick, but the procedures that are commonly associated with global periods today would be delayed primary closures that are simple or intermediate, those have a 10-day global period, and again, you can look up those CPT codes according to your specialty. And then the more complex closure of wounds or dehiscence actually have a 90-day global period. So again, that includes dressing, changes, any office visits during the period of which type of closure you perform based on the wound size and location. 

So for example, I'm in Tennessee, which is managed by Palmetto JJB, and my jurisdiction is J. So the easy way to look that up honestly is how I did it, which was going to the cms.gov website. So it's the website for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, or you can actually call them directly as well. If you know the MAC for your region, you can look directly onto that website for a particular procedure and if there's any associated global periods. And that's pretty much what I did. I looked at the Palmetto GBA website and was able to calculate either based on the date of procedure, if it's 10 days or 90 days, or honestly, you can type in the procedure code and it'll tell you if there's a global period.

Going back to talking about the more common wound care procedures that do not have a global period, and that would be your surgical debridement that we typically do in the office or the wound care center. Also, the active wound care procedure codes, just as an example, 97597 or 97598. Those do not have a global wound care period. Neither does apply an a compression dressing or even a wound vac or a negative pressure wound therapy treatment. Those do not have a global day period.

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