Ophthalmology and Optometry Coding Alert

Question: A patient had foreign bodies in her left eye, in both the cornea and conjunctiva. Our ophthalmologist performed both removals. Can we bill separately for both procedures, or are they bundled?

Maryland Subscriber

Answer: You should be able to bill both removals separately. The CPT codes for removal of foreign bodies in the conjunctiva are 65205 (Removal of foreign body, external eye; conjunctival superficial) and 65210 (... conjunctival embedded [includes concretions], subconjunctival or scleral nonperforating).

For the cornea, the codes are 65220 (... corneal, without slit lamp) and 65222 (... corneal, with slit lamp). In the National Correct Coding Initiative, 65205 and 65210 are not bundled with 65220 and 65222, which means you are free to report both codes - 65210 and 65222, for example - separately.

However, 65205 is bundled into 65210, and 65220 is bundled into 65222. If your ophthalmologist removes multiple foreign bodies from the same site in the eye, it would be inappropriate to bill for each one.