Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

3 FAQs clear up your 92020 coding to improve your claims' success. With only one code for gonioscopy, reporting it to carriers is a snap, right? Not so fast. When your ophthalmologist performs a gonioscopy without general anesthesia, bilateral rules, and reimbursable diagnoses can complicate your coding process. Tackle your coding dilemmas with these expert answers to your top gonioscopy questions. Question 1: Is 92020 Inherently Bilateral? Most insurance companies, including Medicare, consider 92020 (Gonioscopy [separate procedure]) a bilateral procedure code. This means that you cannot report the code twice when your ophthalmologist performs a gonioscopy on each eye, explains Raequell Duran, CPC, president of Practice Solutions, a coding, compliance, and reimbursement consulting firm based in Santa Barbara, Calif. Although CPT doesn't specifically describe the procedure as bilateral in the code descriptor, most insurers follow Medicare's lead. You can find the bilateral surgery indicators in the fee schedule, says Sylvia [...]