When a physician places a device that takes the place of all or some of a body part, assign a code from ICD-10-PCS root operation replacement (third character R). Think of a total knee replacement or...
ICD-10-CM/PCS now has guidelines for reporting conditions that are present on admission (POA). As part of the 2011 guidelines updates, CMS and the National Center for Health Statistics added Appendix...
CMS has released the 2011 versions of the ICD-10-CM/PCS crosswalks, also known as the General Equivalence Mappings (GEM) on its ICD-10 website . In addition, CMS also posted a document titled “ICD-10...
The multiple procedure guidelines in ICD-10-PCS present possibilities for coder confusion. Several guidelines relate to the coding of multiple procedures, some under the heading of multiple...
ICD-10-PCS requires coders to possess strong clinical knowledge as well as a solid foundation in anatomy and physiology. Coders need to understand what physicians are actually doing in certain...
Not all of the ICD-10-PCS root operations are complicated or confusing. Take reattachment for example. The root operation is pretty much what you would expect. The official definition of reattachment...
When a physician performs a procedure designed to put in a device without doing anything else to a body part, coders will report ICD-10-PCS root operation insertion (third character H in the medical...
ICD-10-PCS is drastically different from the ICD-9-CM Volume 3 procedure codes. Just looking at the physical appearance, you’ll see that the procedure codes in ICD-9-CM have a maximum of four digits...
While working on various projects related to ICD-10-PCS, I have discovered many areas where I think coders are going to struggle because the rules either go against the way we code now in ICD-9-CM...
In ICD-10-PCS, coders will need to select the root operation based on the objective of the procedure (not what the physician calls it). If the physician’s objective is to strip out by force all of a...
