FEB 02, 2023
BAT for Cataract Surgery
Question: Can physicians use a pen light with the phoropter as a brightness acuity tester (BAT)? We have a BAT but one of the new physicians thinks that the pen light is about the same as the medium setting on a BAT?
Answer: Many local carrier determinations (LCDs) indicate that for Medicare patients, a designated testing device for glare testing should be used consistent with instructions.
For example, Palmetto’s LCD, Cataract Surgery (L34413) states:
“In general, any performed ancillary testing must be conducted so as not to deliberately bias the decision toward the performance of surgery (e.g., glare testing done on abnormally high settings inconsistent with the instructions of the testing device’s manufacturer, etc.).”
Additional LCDs can be found at
aao.org/lcds