Question: When a patient is receiving care for a myocardial infarction, 410.x (Acute myocardial infarction), how do I know which fifth digit to report?
Texas Subscriber
Answer: The fifth digits indicate the episode of care--in other words the encounters with the health care system. '2' is usually the fifth digit for home health because we are the subsequent episode of care.
Example: The hospital may be the initial encounter with the health system when a patient has had an MI. Any subsequent encounter, whether it be rehab or home health, is a subsequent encounter and should be coded with a '2' in the fifth digit.