Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Question: Have new codes been recently added to ICD-10-CM? I thought new codes only came into effect on October 1 every year.

Tennessee Subscriber

Answer: Historically, ICD-10-CM released new codes annually for use effective October 1, but in September 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided to update ICD-10-CM codes twice a year, with new codes being effective on April 1 as well as the traditional effective date of October 1.

This year, ICD-10-CM introduced 42 new codes, deleted seven, and revised one, effective April 1, 2023. None of these codes involve neoplasms, but many of the new codes describe social determinants of health (SDoH), which could well affect coding in the oncology specialty.

The most important change involves an expansion of the Y07.- (Perpetrator of assault, maltreatment and neglect) code group, and new codes in the Persons with potential health hazards related to socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances (Z55-Z65) section.

Three of the new codes in particular could easily come into play in the oncology setting:

• Z55.6 (Problems related to health literacy)
• Z91.141 (Patient’s other noncompliance with medication regimen due to financial hardship)
• Z91.148 (Patient’s other noncompliance with medication regimen for other reason)

Helpful hint: For Z55.6, the inclusion terms provided are “difficulty understanding health related information,” “difficulty understanding medication instructions,” and “problem completing medical forms.”

For the full 2023 ICD-10-CM April 2023 addenda, go to https://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Publications/ ICD10CM/April-1-2023-Update/ and download the zip file labeled icd10cm-addendum-April 1, 2023.