ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: Should we be capturing ICD-9 procedure codes for ED facility coding?  I understand it is not required; however, I’d like to get an idea of the standard practice among other hospitals.

Virginia Subscriber

Answer: These are special ICD-9 Procedure Codes, not diagnosis codes.  They are different than the more common and ICD-9 CM diagnosis and CPT^® codes. ICD-9 procedure codes are typically only applicable when the patient is assigned to inpatient status. Most hospitals don’t assign ICD-9 procedure codes to any procedure performed for a patient who is in an outpatient status (such as the ED) since the code set isn’t applicable in that setting of care.