ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: Should we be capturing ICD-10-PCS codes in our emergency department? We currently use ICD-10-CM but we have never used ICD-10-PCS codes.

Codify Subscriber

Answer: The codes you're referring to are special ICD-10 procedure codes, not diagnosis codes. They are different than the more common and ICD-10-CM diagnosis and CPT^® codes. ICD-10 procedure codes are typically only applicable when the patient is assigned to inpatient status. Most hospitals don't assign ICD-10-PCS 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.