Inpatient Facility Coding & Compliance Alert
Reader Question:
How to Assign DRGs for Appendectomy
Published on Mon Dec 15, 2014
Question: A patient has to undergo appendectomy. She is anemic and obese. How should I assign the case into a proper DRG?
Mississippi Subscriber
Answer: The ICD-9 CM code for anemia is 285.9 and for obesity is 278.0. These do not comprise a CC (comorbidity/complication) or MCC (major comorbidity/complication). In this perspective, you can assign the case into an MS-DRG 343 (Appendectomy W/O complicated principal diag W/O CC/MCC)
However, if she had an acute post hemorrhagic anemia (285.1) or morbid obesity (278.01), these would count as a CC and the MS DRG assignment would then change to MS DRG 342 (Appendectomy W/O complicated principal diag W CC).
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