Eye Injuries? VSP Essential Medical Eye Care Has that Covered

As we head into summer, there’s an increase in outdoor activities and celebrations, including the Fourth of July, which can sometimes lead to eye injuries. The good news is, VSP^® members with Essential Medical Eye Care have services and treatment covered for medical eye conditions, such as corneal scratches or abrasions, ocular foreign body, and ocular discomfort and pain, in addition to systemic conditions such as glaucoma and other eye diseases.

Essential Medical Eye Care provides supplemental medical eye care coverage for more than 50 million VSP members. The patient’s medical insurance plan should be billed as the primary payer when you are contracted with the member’s medical insurance plan’s network. Medical eye care services can be billed directly to VSP when you are not contracted with the member’s medical insurance plan’s network.

According to VSP network doctor and ambassador Jennifer Burke, OD, Eyediology Vision Care, “Essential Medical Eye Care allows optometrists, especially in my area, where optometrists are locked out of a lot of medical plans, to keep patients in our office. Essential Medical Eye Care allows us to perform a visual field examination, monitor glaucoma, and treat an eye infection. It has been huge for my practice and huge for the patient experience.”

You can find more information about Essential Medical Eye Care and how to do Coordination of Benefits (COB) with the patient’s medical insurance in the VSP Provider Reference Manual on VSPOnline at eyefinity.com or by watching the four COB training videos on VSPOnline by going to Training & Support, Online Training, then Submit Claim.

Watch the Premier Academy360^TM “601N: Essential Medical Eye Care¹” webinar on-demand and work your way toward attaining the Premier Academy360 American Diabetes Association^® (ADA) Badge for your VSP^® Find a Doctor Directory listing on vsp.com.

^{1 If you previously completed the course under its former title, “601N: Retinal Screening for the VSP Primary EyeCare PlanSM and VSP Diabetic Eyecare Plus ProgramSM,” you do not need to complete the updated course, “601N: Essential Medical Eye Care” to meet the ADA Badge requirements. However, the updated training is encouraged.}