PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Help Desk

AAO’s Coding Coach

■ The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the American Academy of Ophthalmic Executives (AAOE) aim to end the ophthalmic practices’ long searching through multiple sources for the correct code with its 2007 Ophthalmic Coding Coach. "I have been in ophthalmology for 26 years and we need a coding tool that encompasses about 12 different factors that practices need just to code correctly," says Sue Vicchrilli, C.O.T., O.C.S., and the AAO’s coding executive. "You can get that information from 12 different sources — the Web, Medicare payer sites, CPT, ICD-9, HCPCS, etc. — but the benefit of this book is that it has everything in one place, which saves you hundreds of hours of research." Since 2003, the AAO has been publishing this much-needed resource annually. Available in book form or on CD-ROM, its features include:

• CPT codes and descriptors
• Associated diagnosis codes
• Correct Coding Initiative
• Global surgical periods for Medicare, private payers
• Associated procedures
• Modifier usage
• Special ophthalmic testing service codes
• Assistance at surgery

The Coding Coach also features coding for various ophthalmic specialties such as neuro-ophthalmology, pediatric and strabismus, retina and vision rehabilitation. Another feature is "coding clues." "That’s from our hands-on ophthalmology experience on how payers handle these codes," says Ms. Vicchrilli. "So the clues are for all special testing services, but they are also for every single CPT code we have. For example, this code is only payable twice a year, or this code cannot be billed with some other code in the same session."

Relative value units for the office and facility enable verification of site-of-service differential where you may be paid a higher fee when the procedure is performed in your office rather than in the hospital. A list of Medicare carrier Web site URLs allows you to check payment policies. And new this year, says Ms. Vicchrilli, is ASC coverage. "ASC billing doesn’t always match the surgeon’s billing," she explains.

You can purchase Coding Coach at www.aao.org. OM