EM Coding Alert
Look Forward to Diabetes Coding Being More Specific
Instead of both types of diabetes having the same base number, they’ll each have their own.
Don’t sigh when you look at the number of ICD-10 diabetes codes because their organization will be easier to search through. The codes will include more detail and that detail will be in the descriptors.
Compare the ICD-9 list in this article to the ICD-10 list to see how your coding options will be expanding for type 1 patients.
Notice ICD-9 Type 1 Codes Order
Some of the diabetes crosswalks will be simple and direct.
Example: The ICD-9 250.01 (Diabetes mellitus without mention of complication, type 1 [juvenile type], not stated as uncontrolled) is a direct crosswalk to ICD-10 E10.9 without complications.
Today, the separation of Type 1 diabetes codes from the Type 2 codes makes them look like they are in random sequential order beginning with 250.01, as follows:
ICD-10 Puts Type 1 and 2 In Their Place
Using ICD-9, you report the diagnosis for both Type 1 and Type 2 with the same base code. With ICD-10, you’ll report Type 1 diabetes with E10.xxx and Type 2 diabetes with E11.xxx.
The format of the six (sometimes seven) digits is that the first three digits represent the category, the fourth, fifth, and sixth are the etiology, anatomic site, and severity, and the seventh is an extension if needed.
Your provider’s detailed notes should give you all the information you need to select the proper code.
“This, as with many of the ICD-10 ‘improvements,’ is only going to be as good as the provider’s documentation,” says Pamela Biffle, CPC, CPC-P, CPC-I, CCS-P, CPCO, owner of PB Healthcare Consulting and Education Inc. in Austin, Texas. “Many times the information needed to properly code diabetes is simply missing from the medical record.”
Good news: An improvement for ICD-10 diabetes codes is that they are combination codes that show the type of diabetes or body system affected and the complication affecting that system. Get to know these combination codes now to get a jump on the ICD-10 implementation on Oct. 1. Type 1 diabetes codes will have a three character, alpha-numeric base number of E10, expanded as follows:
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