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Anesthesia Coding Alert

ICD-10:

Start Tracking Your Most Common Diagnoses for ICD-10 Changes

Published on Tue Jan 04, 2011

550.90 will become K40.90. ICD-10 implementation in 2013 is coming fast, so take steps now to prepare. Each month, Anesthesia Coding Alert will highlight a common diagnosis code and how it might change with ICD-10. If you'd like to learn more about a specific diagnosis, email editor Leigh DeLozier. Current code: 550.90 (Inguinal hernia, without mention of obstruction or gangrene; unilateral or unspecified [not specified as recurrent]) ICD-10 code: K40.90 (Unilateral inguinal hernia, without obstruction or gangrene, not specified as recurrent) The 2010 edition of ICD-9 introduced 550.9x with four fifthdigit choices: 0 -- unilateral or unspecified (not specified as recurrent) 1 -- unilateral or unspecified, recurrent 2 -- bilateral (not specified as recurrent) 3 -- bilateral, recurrent. "Sometimes the procedure indicates bilateral and the coder still uses the '0' fifth digit as 'unspecified'," says Kelly Dennis, CPC, MBA, ACS-AN, CANPC, CHCA, CPC, CPC-I, owner of Perfect Office Solutions in Leesburg, Fla. The new [...]
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