Cardiology Coding Alert

This new monthly features helps you prepare for the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. ICD-9 2011 and ICD-10 2011 both have coding options for essential hypertension, but you won't find a one-toone correspondence between them. ICD-9: ICD-9 2011 includes three coding options for essential hypertension: 401.0 -- Essential hypertension; malignant 401.1 -- ... benign 401.9 -- ... unspecified. ICD-10: ICD-10 2011 includes only one code, solving the age-old problem of having to choose the unspecified code when documentation fails to indicate benign or malignant. The ICD-10 code is the letter I followed by the number 10: I10 -- Essential (primary) hypertension. What's new: When ICD-10 goes into effect, you will need to keep an eye on documentation for tobacco exposure. ICD-10 includes an instruction to "Use additional code to identify:" Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22) History of tobacco use (Z87.891) Occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z57.31) Tobacco dependence (F17.-) Tobacco use (Z72.0). [...]