H54.8
Legal blindness, as defined in USA
Billable
Code Hierarchy
H54H54.8
Coding Guidelines
Inclusion Terms
- Blindness NOS according to USA definition
Excludes1 (Mutually Exclusive)
These codes should never be used together with H54.8
- H54.0-H547 - legal blindness with specification of impairment level (H54.0-H54.7)
Notes
- The table below gives a classification of severity of visual impairment recommended by a WHO Study Group on the Prevention of Blindness, Geneva, 6-10 November 1972.
- The term 'low vision' in category H54 comprises categories 1 and 2 of the table, the term 'blindness' categories 3, 4 and 5, and the term 'unqualified visual loss' category 9.
- If the extent of the visual field is taken into account, patients with a field no greater than 10 but greater than 5 around central fixation should be placed in category 3 and patients with a field no greater than 5 around central fixation should be placed in category 4, even if the central acuity is not impaired.
Related Codes
H54.0Category
Blindness, both eyes
H54.1Category
Blindness, one eye, low vision other eye
H54.2Category
Low vision, both eyes
H54.3Billable
Unqualified visual loss, both eyes
H54.4Category
Blindness, one eye
H54.5Category
Low vision, one eye
H54.6Category
Unqualified visual loss, one eye
H54.7Billable
Unspecified visual loss
