News

A-Scan coding, billing for foreign body removal and more.
09/16/2008

Question: Our office bills for A-scans on our cataract patients prior to making a referral for surgery. We're having difficulty with second eye billings and modifiers. What codes should we use?

Coding Complex Cataract Surgery
09/16/2008

In 2001, the Health Care Financing Administration added CPT code 66982 to describe complex cataract surgery.

Coding Corneal Pachymetry
09/16/2008

Q: Is there a CPT code for corneal pachymetry? Effective January 1, 2004, a regular CPT code has been assigned: 76514

New Ophthalmology CPT Codes for 2004
09/16/2008

Q: I heard there were new CPT codes for ophthalmology. Are these for new procedures?

A: Ophthalmology gets five new codes this year, not the usual one or two. Typically, the number of codes the Academy of Ophthalmology requests is the number of new codes we receive.

The new codes are a mixed bag. There are codes for relatively new corneal surface procedures, a lid code for a procedure that has been around for a while, and a code for pachymetry that replaces a temporary code that has also been available for some time.