Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Question: I'm confused about where to indicate surgical procedures and codes on the new OASIS. Can you help?

Answer: Remember that the OASIS data items have never included surgical codes. The Conditions of Participation require integrating the OASIS data item into a comprehensive assessment. That requires adding in other assessment items such as heart and lung sounds, wound measurements, etc., in order to make the OASIS a comprehensive assessment.

Information regarding pertinent surgical procedures should be included in the comprehensive assessment. In the previous versions of OASIS, there was room to place such an assessment item between M0240 and M0245, but with the new OASIS diagnosis item, the surgical procedure question will have to go elsewhere.

The same goes for the exacerbation and onset dates required by most intermediaries. Those E and O dates are not part of the OASIS item and are not required by Medicare, but are "strongly recommended" by the intermediaries.