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Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

ICD-10:

173.xx Specificity Lost in Translation to C44.xx

Published on Thu Jul 07, 2011

You'll shed the basal cell/squamous cell distinction in 2013.You'll barely have time to get used to distinguishing "other" malignant skin neoplasms, such as basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, using ICD-9 2012 changes when you'll drop the distinction again in ICD-10 -- effective Oct. 1, 2013.Instead of distinguishing "other" skin cancer type with the fifth digit, ICD-10 codes will require a fifth digit for some skin sites based on a distinction between right, left, or unspecified.40 Codes Shrink to 22You just read in "173 and 041: Get Specific With Fifth Digits for Skin Cancer, E. coli" that ICD-9, 2012 creates 40 new 173.xx codes.Based on the current proposed ICD-10 codes, you'll only have 22 codes to choose from in 2013, as you can see from the following list:C44.0 -- Malignant neoplasm of skin of lipC44.10 -- ... skin of unspecified eyelid, including canthusC44.11 -- ...skin of right eyelid, including canthusC44.12 -- ... skin of [...]
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