Anesthesia Coding Alert

Today's 414.8 will soon have three more detailed options. Anesthesiologists sometimes rely on the patient's medical condition or underlying history to help justify the need for their services during a procedure. If you learn that a patient has chronic ischemic heart disease, prepare to have extra options when ICD-10 goes into effect in October 014. Definition: Ischemic heart disease is the term for conditions that cause reduced blood flow to the heart, resulting in damage to heart muscle. The word "ischemic" means that the heart isn't getting enough blood and oxygen; this typically is related to coronary disease. ICD-9: Currently, you report 414.8 (Other specified forms of chronic ischemic heart disease) for these patients. A patient who has cardiomyopathy and an old myocardial infarction has a condition known as ischemic heart disease. ICD-9 guidelines instruct that 414.8 applies to "any condition classifiable to 410 [Acute myocardial infarction] specified as chronic, [...]