General Surgery Coding Alert

Laceration, puncture, and more expand codes. Coding wound closure requires identifying wound characteristics, and that will become a lot more specific when you change from ICD-9 to ICD-10.Remember: CMS has finalized the ICD-10 implementation date for Oct. 1, 2014, delaying the action one year from the original deadline.Distinguish Wound Type for ICD-10 Detail Although ICD-9 and ICD-10 contain a host of codes for reporting wounds based on body site, we'll focus on wounds of the back to illustrate the level of detail you can expect with the code-set change.ICD-9 provides just one code for uncomplicated open back wound that doesn't penetrate the thoracic cavity -- 876.0 (Open wound of back without mention of complication).ICD-10 greatly expands your code choices by specifying the wound type, as follows:S21.20 -- Unspecified open wound of back wall of thorax without penetration into thoracic cavityS21.21 -- Laceration without foreign body of back wall of thorax without penetration into [...]