General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: Could you please provide some direction about when I should use "history of" codes instead of the actual cancer diagnosis code?Virginia SubscriberAnswer: You should use a "history of" diagnosis when the patient's treatment is complete and the surgeon states that there is no sign of reoccurrence. For instance, use V10.3 (Personal history of malignant neoplasm; Breast) for a patient with prior history of breast cancer.Follow guidelines: The ICD-9-CM coding guidelines specify that the "personal history of" codes "explain a patient's past medical condition that no longer exists and is not receiving any treatment, but that has the potential for recurrence, and therefore may require continued monitoring."You should report the condition using a cancer diagnosis code (such as 174.8, Malignant neoplasm of other specified sites of female breast) if the patient is still receiving active treatment. Even if the surgeon states that he was able to completely remove the tumor [...]