What vision insurance do you have? Comments Wanted-Needed!

Sandra Durant

How many times in a day do we ask this question?  How many times is the answer "I don't know"? It seems that most patients know their medical insurance carrier, but have no clue who holds their vision policy.  Sometimes you can get the information by the employer name or school, but a lot of times the information is elusive.  Do you have a … [Read more...]

Billing Bytes; 3 CPT Codes That Should No Longer Be Used

CPT codes

From the VisionWeb Blog: There are a few CPT codes that have been deleted, and it is recommended that they no longer be used.  Some deleted codes include: 92070 (Fitting of contact lens for treatment of disease, including supply of lens); 92120 (Tonography with interpretations and report, recording indentation tonometer method or perilimbal … [Read more...]

Billing Bytes: First Pair Of Glasses After Cataract Surgery

Sandra Durant

Medicare normally pays toward the first pair of eyeglasses after cataract surgery.  But some patients do not qualify for Medicare because of the patient's age or their spouse is still working under a qualified benefit plan, and billing needs to be made to their medical insurance carrier.  Of course, the medical insurance would cover it, … [Read more...]

Comparing British National Health to U.S.A. Healthcare Costs

NHS

I have compared the British National Health care system to the U.S.A.’s  healthcare before, especially as this country has become so divided about health care since President Obama’s health care reform efforts began. We usually avoid getting into political arguments in this blog but I am going to share these two experiences with you just … [Read more...]

VisionWeb’s First ebook on Claims Filing

VisionWeb 1

eye gotta tell ya, we love VisionWeb. They just published their first ebook on Claim Filing: Fantasy vs Fact. It is easy reading, fun and chock full of good advice. Check it out and download here  We also recommend, that you keep this on file for any new billers and coders. A brief example … [Read more...]

Billing Bytes: New Glaucoma Codes

Sandra Durant

We are the luckiest people! Sandra Durant CPOC, a certified  Paraoptometric Coder has agreed to do a monthly post for us on Billing and Coding. Sandra has been working in insurance for over 18 years and the past 5.5 in Optometry. She earned her  certification as a CPOC (Certified Paraoptometric Coder) last year and is a member of the AOA's CPOC … [Read more...]

Top 9 Health Care Systems In The World

Photo:wikimedia

Top 9 Health Care Systems in the World There has been much debate in recent years about whether health care is a privilege or right. While securing coverage for every U.S. citizen has been a priority for years, people often overlook the overall quality — or lack thereof — of our health care system. Without question, improvements can be made. … [Read more...]

FSA Visual Stimulation – Free Roxy Bag

Roxy BV_RX_poster

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA's) are a good way for consumers to save on taxes but unlike Health Saving Accounts (HSA's) they cannot be rolled over in the next tax year. The most common type of FSA is used to pay for medical expenses not paid for by insurance; this usually means deductibles, co-payments, and coinsurance for the employee's health … [Read more...]

Pros of Out-Sourcing Medical Credentialing

time-money-see-saw

Vision West (the optical buying group) was talking about how excited they were  signing up a Medical Credentialing company as one of their vendors. Not to be stupid, I had to of course look up medical credentialing to find out more about it. They signed up CSOA, Credentialing Specialists Of America. After looking into this and realizing how much … [Read more...]

FREE- Troubleshooting Webinair For Medicare Providers

How to Fast Track Your Optical Dispensary to be a DME Compliant Supplier for Post-op Cataract Eyewear... Wednesday, March 16, 2011 from 4:00 - 5:30 PM EST Monday, March 21, 2011 from 4:00 - 5:30 PM EST Why is this so important right now? The CMS has new rules that take effect March 25, 2011. Dispensing physicians, optometrists & … [Read more...]

Vision Web Insurance Billing Video- FREE

For those who need help in insurance billing, this is a billing video by VisionWeb, your online resource for going paperless and streamlining operations for eyecare professionals. … [Read more...]

Independent Opticians And VSP Updates

This is the recent news we received from the OAA regarding VSP and Out Of Network Claim Filings. For more information, contact VSP directly or the Optician Association of America The Opticians Association of America has learned some new information about VSP's out of network claim filing policies. VSP has always given its members the … [Read more...]

Billing And Coding

Medical Billing

Optometrist Options for Billing and Coding While optometry is not a new profession, the industry may not be enjoying the same benefits as larger medical outlets when it comes to receiving their proper dues (in the form of financial reimbursement). This could be attributed in large part to the fact that optometrists are either not aware of … [Read more...]

The Vision Council Update on Health Care Reform

pediatric2

The Vision Council has provided some helpful updates on Health Care Reform that we would like to share with you regarding On March 30, 2010, the President signed into law the heavily debated health care reform legislation – so what happens next? There are some immediate changes that will take effect as well as a steady time line for … [Read more...]

National Healthcare – A British Experience Part 1

National Health

I am in the U.K. right now and have had two very positive experiences with the British Health Care system from a patient's point of view. I cannot speak about how it is as a provider but I thought it would be interesting to blog about it from the patient side. Britain has had the National Health Service (NHS) program for sixty plus years and … [Read more...]