Wiki Debridement of eyelids for dry eye Dx

tnthekids

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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.
 
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
 
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