Ear Lavage

We are doing ear lavage at our family practice office and not getting paid for most of them. What diagnosis and code would we use? We have tried everything we can think of.

re: Ear Lavage

Are you aware that payers often do not reimburse separately unless instrumentation is used, but bundle into the E & M. If instrumentation is used, the provider needs to clearly indicate this in the documentation & report 69210. Need to show a diagnosis of impacted cerumen. Without that as one of the diagnosis codes, the CPT® would be very questionable for medical necessity. Check with your payer about their policy for payment if you are using 69209.