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99172 Ocular function screen

What 99172 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Ocular function screen.

Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.

Medicare payment for 99172 (CY2026)

This code has no Physician Fee Schedule rate: Non-covered by Medicare. It may be paid under a different fee schedule (clinical laboratory, DMEPOS, anesthesia) or not paid at all - check the relevant CMS schedule.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 99172 at 0 units per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 3 - date of service edit (clinical): units above the MUE may pay with documentation on appeal), rationale: CMS Policy. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 99172? These codes are bundled into it

99172 is a Column 1 code in 5 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.

Column 2 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0469TRta polarize scan oc scr bi0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36591Draw blood off venous device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36592Collect blood from picc0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
96523Irrig drug delivery device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
99173Visual acuity screen0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

99172 is bundled into these codes

99172 appears as a Column 2 code in 164 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 99172 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0591THlth&wb coaching indiv 1st0Check pair
0592THlth&wb coaching indiv f-up0Check pair
0593THlth&wb coaching group0Check pair
0734TRem r-t mtn nrehab tx mgmt0Check pair
0776TTher indctj ntrabrn hypthrm0Check pair
33871Transvrs a-arch grf hypthrm0Check pair
92002Intrm oph exam new patient0Check pair
92004Compre oph exam new pt 1/>0Check pair
92012Intrm oph exam est patient0Check pair
92014Compre oph exam est pt 1/>0Check pair
96160Pt-focused hlth risk assmt0Check pair
96161Caregiver health risk assmt0Check pair
98000Synch audio-video new sf 150Check pair
98001Synch audio-video new low 300Check pair
98002Synch audio-video new mod 450Check pair

Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.