Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

Bonus: CMS increases pay for office visit codes. Ophthalmology coders, get ready for another year of nail-biting to find out if your Medicare payments will be slashed. "The update to the physician fee schedule conversion factor is -- 21.2 percent for CY 2010," notes the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, printed in the Federal Register that will be published on Nov. 25. Traditionally, Congress has stepped in to reverse such dramatic cuts before they take place, but unless that happens this year, you'll face a conversion factor of $28.4061 effective Jan. 1, according to calculations in the Federal Register. Silver lining: Although cuts to certain CPT codes will have a drastic impact on some specialties in 2010 -- like nuclear medicine (18 percent drop in reimbursement) and cardiology (8 percent drop) -- the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that ophthalmology practices will experience a five percent raise [...]