Diagnosis Spotlight:
Check How Your Most Common Connective Tissue Diagnoses Could Change
Published on Sun Nov 11, 2012
Familiarize yourself now with a few codes that will have broader application.Your diagnosis choices for connective tissue disorders will expand dramatically when ICD-10 goes into effect in October 2014. Here's what you'll need to know about which descriptors will change -- and which won't -- to ensure you pinpoint the most accurate code every time.Get Specific With Muscle Spasm CodingMuscle spasm coding gets more complicated than you might think with ICD-10.Currently: ICD-9 includes only a single code for muscle spasm: 728.85 (Spasm of muscle). The diagnosis includes any type of spasm, ranging from those due to injury or stroke to conditions in which the brain or spinal cord is destroyed (such as cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis). This includes muscle contractures not elsewhere classified in ICD-9.Looking ahead: Once ICD-10 goes into effect, you'll have three choices for muscle spasm, depending on the location of the muscle in question:M62.830 -- Muscle spasm of backM62.831 -- [...]