Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

If the patient comes to your practice from a skilled nursing facility, consolidated billing rules might apply. Question: A wheelchair-bound nursing home patient came to our office for a follow-up glaucoma after beingon medication for a few weeks. What is the best way to code this office visit? Answer: How you code for this visit depends on what your physician prefers, but you must choose one way and stick with it -- for all types of glaucoma and other eye patients. Physicians often have to follow up with glaucoma patients because of medications or postsurgical concerns.Many practices differ in their coding method for follow-up visits, using either E/M codes or eye codes. Both sets are acceptable as long as they accurately depict the service. The decision usually depends on the physician's preference. Some practices choose the eye codes because they require less documentation. However, the ophthalmologist must perform the required exam [...]