Code descriptor may not change when ICD-10 kicks off.
A personal history of colon cancer can significantly impact a patient's risk for future disease, so be sure you're up-to-date on how to accurately capture the history with diagnosis codes.
Under ICD-9, you currently code personal history of colorectal cancer with a single code: V10.05 (Personal history of malignant neoplasm of large intestine).
ICD-10 difference: When ICD-9-CM shifts to ICD-10-CM, code V10.05 will change to Z85.038 (Personal history of other malignant neoplasm of large intestine). The code will retain the same descriptor -- except for the word "other" added in ICD-10. The word "other" helps distinguish Z85.038 from Z85.030 (Personal history of malignant carcinoid tumor of large intestine).
Documentation: According to ICD-10-CM, diagnosis Z85.038 is applicable to conditions that fall under parent code C18 (Malignant neoplasm of colon). More detailed options in the code family include:
Coding tip: ICD-9 guidelines state that you should use history codes (such as V10.05) as the reason for an encounter when a condition needs to be monitored for recurrence. You'll follow the same guidelines for history codes when ICD-10 begins.
