Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

These clues will point you toward your ophthalmologist's HPI. If you stumble over the elements that comprise an E/M service's history of present illness (HPI), you may incorrectly go with an eye code. Leave no HPI element uncovered with these tips. Spot These 8 HPI Elements Your ophthalmologist must take/record the HPI, which is a chronological description of the development of the patient's present illness from the first sign or symptom from the previous encounter to the present. HPI elements include: • Location: where the illness is on the body -- such as left eye, right eyebrow, cornea. • Quality: a description of the illness -- for instance, aching, stabbing, itchy. • Severity: a measure of how bad the illness is -- such as on a scale of 1-10. • Duration: how long the illness has been present -- for instance, last two weeks. • Timing: when do the signs/symptoms appear -- on and off, [...]