By Jason Miller, OD, MBA
By educating patients that your practice is the place to turn for treatment of pink eye, you can better serve patient needs while growing your medical model business.
Dr. Miller’s practice sees two to three pink eye patients per month, but estimates the opportunity to be much greater.
Patients
At least six per month report going elsewhere for treatment.
Exam Cost
$75 initial visit + $75 for follow-up visit = $150
Practice Expense
5 to 7 extra chairminutes for diagnosis and post-exam instructions to prevent transmission of infection.
Calculate Opportunity
You may bemissing a key medical modelopportunity byneglecting to promoteyourtreatment of pink eye. Many of your patients, maybe even the majority of them, probably are unaware that your practice–and not their primary care physician, urgent care centeror emergency room–is the first place to turn when faced with pink eye in the family.
In just the past few weeks, half a dozen patients mentioned to me, as an aside, that theyrecently sawtheir family care doctor, or madea visit to the hospital, to treat pink eye. In addition to the lost opportunity to serve my patients by providing better care than they could receive anywhere else, I lost a substantial source of revenue, given that each pink eye patient represents about $150- That breaks down to $75 for the first visit to diagnose and recommend treatment, and another $75 for the follow-up visit to ensure the infection has cleared up.
The loss is moresubstantial in thatI estimate that at least 20 percent of the time patients who come in for pink eye actually have another medically related issue, such as dry eye, ocular allergies or irritation from contact lenses. Like pink eye, those conditions represent a chance to buildmy medical model business and provide patients with targeted treatment their general practice doctor does not have the expertise to provide.
FAQ
You can get paid for your medical expertise if you know how to code for it.
Pink eye patients are considered medical office visits.
Billed as either a 92000 exam or a 99000 E/Mexam, based on OD’s documentation. Level 3 99xxx is a common level.
To educate patients about this growing facet of our practice, arecordingmay playin a loop inthe reception area reminding patients: “We’re your itchy eye care provider.”Consider mentioning in yourpractice’s voice mail recording thatyou treat pink eye and other eye irritations.
Create Pink Eye Protocol
Since viral pink eye is extremely contagious, you need to come up with a set protocol for managing these patients. When patients call for an appointment and tell the receptionist the reason for their visit is suspected pink eye, plan to have a staff member greet the patient at the door and immediately lead them back to an exam lane. When the patient leaves, anything the patient touched, from instrumentation to exam chair, or even door knob, will have to be cleaned with a sterile wipe or antiseptic cleaning solution.
Also consider your personal protocol as the doctor examining the pink eye patient. Think about wearing surgical gloves. In addition, you will need to budget extra time–five to seven extra minutes–first to diagnose the condition and, after the exam, to discuss treatment and the care the patient must take not to spread the virus to others.
Network for Referrals
Once you are secure about theprotocol you have in place, reach out to local referral sources, such asschools and local primary care physicians, to let them know your practice handles cases of pink eye, as well as other eye infections and irritations.
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Jason R. Miller, OD,has been in practice 11 yearsand is in a partnership private practice with Tamara M. Kuhlmann, OD, MS, atEyeCare Professionals of Powell, Ohio. Contact: jasonrmiller@columbus.rr.com.
