Debridement of eyelids for dry eye Dx

[tnthekids]

Patient comes in to a dry eye clinic and upon exam it is discovered there are excrements, etc under the lid. We perform a debridement to clean the lids with the goal of improving the dry eye issue. Is this debridement billable? Or is it considered part of the E/M visit? The equipment is like a hand held toothbrush that scrubs the lids. I was looking at debridement in the CPT and don't see anything addressing the lids. I don't feel like this is "foreign body removal". I also looked in integumentary under 11042 wondering if that would be appropriate. Looking for feedback on what would be the best way to handle this. Thanks.

 

[Cheezum51]

It sounds like your describing removing debris from the eyelid margins versus actually being under the eyelids on the tarsal conjunctival tissue. There isn't a specific code for this removal of debris which is most likely caused by blepharitis. I would just bill a level 3 99 code.

Tom Cheezum, OD, CPC, COPC

 

[nettte2717]

Is it Blephex? If it is Blephex, there is no code and at my previous office patients paid out of pocket for this procedure. Nothing was submitted to insurance.