Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

E/M codes need your attention to stay out of CMS trouble. In the wake of Medicare's Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) report in which new patient, outpatient, and subsequent hospital care codes dominated a list of errors, your office should be scrambling to polish its E/M claims. If an ophthalmologist is requested to see a patient in the hospital for an evaluation of an ophthalmic problem, a consultation may be performed and the patient could warrant the need for follow-up hospital visits during the course of the patient's hospital stay. Understanding the level of the key components needed for the history, exam, and medical decision making is essential when selecting the E/M code. Take a closer look at CERT's three worst offenders, and see how you can defend your use of these codes to Medicare and private payers. Meet 3 of 3 Requirements for New Patient Coding New patient office [...]