Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

Question: I need a procedure code for a piggyback lens. The patient had cataract surgery but now needs a piggyback intraocular lens.


Tennessee Subscriber

Answer: Report 66985 (Insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis [secondary implant], not associated with concurrent cataract removal) for a piggyback lens inserted after cataract surgery.

But if the ophthalmologist performs the implant at the time of a concurrent cataract surgery, CPT directs you to 66982 (Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis, manual or mechanical technique, complex, requiring devices or techniques not generally used in routine cataract surgery or performed on patients in the amblyogenic developmental stage), 66983 (Intracapsular cataract extraction with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis) or 66984 (Extracapsular cataract removal with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis, manual or mechanical technique).