Wiki Foreign body removal in cornea

[ivygirl18@hotmail.com]

Hello everyone,

I have a provider that had a patient come in with a foreign body in the cornea. No incision was used. The provider removed it with a Qtip. I was looking at CPT 65220, however it states the use of a beveled edge of a needle is used to remove. Should they code an E/M service and not a procedure code?

Thank you for your help!

 

[CodingKing]

I looked at the practice expense RVU and no mention of any specific item used to remove the FB.

Not the best source but according to a blog post i read, code selection is not based on instrument, it could be irrigation, a cotton swab, or the tip of a beveled needle. The only thing that would affect the code selection would be use of slit lamp or not. If no FB found then it would be an E&M instead.

http://medical-codes.blogspot.com/2012/06/65205-65222-coding-success-hinge-on_28.html

http://www.outsourcemanagementgroup...eign-body-removal-medical-billing-take-1.html

 

[ivygirl18@hotmail.com]

Thank you!