ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Test your skill on scenarios using the 940-947 code set

Now that you've had a crash course in burn diagnosis coding, try your hand at coding these scenarios. Choose the proper ICD-9 code(s) for each example. Refer back to the article "Burn Diagnosis Coding: It's as Easy as 1, 2, 3" if you encounter any difficulties.  
 
Scenario 1: A patient presents with second- and third-degree burns to her head and neck, along with a first-degree burn on her left thumb.
 
Answer 1: For the head and neck burns, report 941.39 (Burn of face, head and neck; full-thickness skin loss [third degree NOS]; multiple sites [except with eye] of face, head and neck). The hand burn should be coded 944.12 (Burn of wrist[s] and hand[s]; erythema [first degree]; thumb [nail]).
 
Remember, only code the highest-degree burn for each anatomic section. Therefore, you would not report the second-degree burns to the patient's head and neck.
 
Scenario 2: A patient presents with severe third-degree burns on all the toes on his right foot. The foot was burned so badly that the man has lost two toes.
 
Answer 2: Report 945.51 (Burn of lower limb[s]; deep necrosis of underlying tissues [deep third degree] with loss of a body part; toe[s] [nail]).
 
Don't forget that the fourth-digit subclassifications are quite specific for third-degree burns. If the physician's notes mention loss of a body part, make sure the claim reflects the body-part loss.