Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

If you're still reporting V57.x as a secondary diagnosis, you could be jeopardizing your therapy claims. 

As of Dec. 1, coding guidelines advise that V57.x (Care involving use of rehabilitation procedures) has been added to the list of V codes which are only acceptable as principal or first listed diagnoses. 

"This means that if therapy is the primary reason for home health, then V57.x would be coded first. Otherwise, you wouldn't code it," says Lisa Selman-Holman, JD, BSN, RN, CHCE, HCS-D, COS-C, consultant and principal of Selman-Holman & Associates in Denton, TX. If you are providing more than one therapy, you may report V57.89 (Multiple training or therapy) in M0230, she advises.
 
Editor's Note: Watch future issues of Home Health ICD-9 Alert for more on how this change and other changes to the V Code Table will impact home health. Email the editor at janm@elijournals.com to request a PDF copy of the updated ICD-9-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting.