The dispensed unit of measure and dispensed quantity must be added to the guide. The current units of measure are not sufficient. The greatest objection to the V-codes is their lack of specificity. Today over 60,000 proprietary eyeglass lens designs can be combined with at least a dozen major categories of special coatings and other value-adds, and ground to an almost unlimited number of prescription powers. All of these factors relate directly to price and price is the principal driving factor in determining how the products fit into the various vision plans.
Similar limitations exist for frame and contact lens codes.
Vision plans have adapted to this exploding eyewear product field in two ways. Some of the largest and most successful payors, however, have chosen to define plan benefits very precisely in order to control costs and minimize risk. To do this, plans have resorted to proprietary codes combined with continuously changing printed material that providers are responsible for understanding and applying to eyewear orders. Each relevant product attribute must be identified along with each possible current value for the attribute. Pricing could also be added by third party services.