Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Reader Questions:

Look Beyond Follow-Up Codes for Chemo

Question: In our home health program we often care for patients who are receiving chemotherapy in the physician's office. Part of our skilled observation involves assessing for the effects/side effects of chemotherapy. The code V67.2 is for follow-up examination following chemotherapy. Is this code to be used only in a physician's office or would it be appropriate to use this as an OASIS diagnosis in M1022?

-- North Carolina Subscriber

Answer: The V67.x (Follow-up examination) codes are intended to be used when a patient has completed treatment for a disease, condition, or injury but still requires continued observation. These codes indicate that the condition has been fully treated and no longer exists, unlike aftercare codes that would report current treatment for a healing condition.

V67.2 (Follow-up examination following chemotherapy) wouldn't be appropriate for the patients for whom you are caring because you are providing treatment for a current condition. In addition, the V67 codes (for the most part) are primary only.

Considering that V67.2 is not appropriate, coding guidelines state to avoid coding symptoms as primary when the reason for the care is cancer with certain exceptions. Consider coding for the cancer as primary or code for the symptoms as an adverse effect of chemotherapy.

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