ICD-10-CM

CMS officially declared October 1, 2015, the new ICD-10 implementation date with the publication of a final rule, "Administrative Simplification: Change to the Compliance Date for the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS Medical Data Code Sets," in the August 4 Federal Register .

by Robert S. Gold, MD

Take note of the changes and similarities between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM.

A diabetic patient is admitted with gangrene. The physician does not specifically link the diabetes and the gangrene, but also does not document any other potential cause of the gangrene. Should you code both conditions?

Here is the answer to the case study.

Coders have only two options for reporting fractures of the patella in ICD-9-CM, closed (822.0) and open (822.1). In ICD-10-CM, that number will jump to more than 400. Many of these options are the result of separate codes to denote laterality (right or left) in ICD-10-CM. However, the code set also includes options for specific types of fractures, increasing the importance of clear and accurate provider documentation.

ICD-10-CM will resolve some of the confusion surrounding aftercare codes by using seventh characters to follow an injury through its life span.

ICD-10-CM provides many more combination codes for drug- and alcohol-related diagnoses than ICD-9-CM. Shelley C. Safian, PhD, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, explains how this could actually result in less work for coders.

Robert S. Gold, MD, highlights coding traps to avoid in ICD-10-CM , including hypostatic pneumonia, respiratory failure, and cardiomyopathy.

The FY 2013 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting probably look very familiar to coders. Lorraine Began, CPC, CPC-I, CCS-P, and Shannon ­E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CPC-I, CEMC, CCDS, reveal the similarities and differences between the guidelines for ICD-10-CM and ICD-9-CM.