Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

Tip: Find the cause of 'blurred vision' to arrive at the correct diagnosis code -- and save your practice from costly denials. When a patient presents with vague, generalized complaints -- such as blurry vision, dry eyes, or a foreign-body sensation -- it can sometimes be challenging to coders. Our experts explain how to handle three common complaints. Make Clear Choices for Blurred Vision If someone's vision is blurred, his first visit will probably be to an eye-care specialist. Yet ICD-9 codes that specifically describe blurred vision, and similar diagnoses that relate to refractive error, sometimes aren't covered. What's a coder to do? An option many coders choose is to report 368.8 (Visual disturbances; other specified visual disturbances). The ICD-9 manual includes the note "blurred vision NOS (not otherwise specified)," indicating that this is a good choice for blurred vision. Some carriers don't agree, however, using the logic that there must be something [...]