Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

Question: A patient with glass in her cornea came into our office. The ophthalmologist removed the glass and repaired the cut. How should I code this procedure?California SubscriberAnswer: Because the ophthalmologist had to repair a laceration after removing a corneal foreign body (FB), you should report 65275 (Repair of laceration; cornea, nonperforating, with or without removal foreign body).Key: Note that the code definition includes "with or without removal foreign body." This prevents you from reporting the FB removal separate from 65275, even in the absence of a National Correct Coding Initiative bundle.Watch out: You might be tempted to use 65235 (Removal of foreign body, intraocular; from anterior chamber of eye or lens) and 65260 (... from posterior segment, magnetic extraction, anterior or posterior route), but remember that these are "facility-only" codes, usually performed in an operating room setting, such as a hospital or ambulatory surgical center, not in the ophthalmologist's [...]