OASIS Alert

Education:

DON'T CONFUSE AN OSTOMY WITH A 'TAKE-DOWN' IN M0440

Question: When a gastrostomy is closed as a "take-down" surgical procedure, the patient has a surgical incision to close the bowel, with the remaining gastrostomy skin opening being left to close on its own. How would you answer M0440 and M0482 in this situation?

Answer: The ostomy skin opening that is being allowed to close on its own would be excluded from consideration as a wound or lesion for M0440 and thus could also not be considered a surgical wound, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in answering question 102 of the OASIS Q&As. But the "take-down" of the ostomy done as a surgical procedure would result in an incision that is both a wound/lesion ("yes" on M0440) and a surgical wound ("yes" on M0482), CMS explains.


Note:  To access the OASIS Q&As, go to www.qtso.com/guides/hha/cat4.pdf.

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