Global period
The post-procedure window during which related follow-up care is bundled into the procedure's payment and cannot be billed separately.
Updated
A global period is the defined interval after a procedure during which routine follow-up care, complications, and related services are considered included in the procedure's payment.
Services furnished during this window are generally not separately reimbursable unless they are unrelated to the original procedure or meet specific exception criteria.
In practice
Billers verify global period status before submitting claims for post-procedure visits, because reporting a service included in the global package can lead to denial of payment.
Commonly confused with
- Fee-for-service: Fee-for-service reimburses each qualifying service individually; a global period bundles related follow-up care into a single procedure payment.