Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

You'll keep a general code, too.

ICD-9 keeps it simple for primary ovarian neoplasm with just three choices: 183.0 (Malignant neoplasm of ovary), 220 (Benign neoplasm of ovary), or 236.2 (Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of ovary).

It won't get too much harder when ICD-10 goes into effect, so we'll show you what you need to know.

The latest: CMS has finalized the ICD-10 implementation date for Oct. 1, 2014, as stated in the Sept. 5 Federal Register. The announcement ended months of speculation that began in April when CMS proposed delaying the original Oct. 1, 2013 implementation date.

In a final rule, published in the Sept. 5 Federal Register a proposed implementation date change from Oct. 1, 2013 to Oct. 1, 2014 for the new diagnosis code set.

Answer Question, 'Which Side?"

Physicians will need to ensure complete documentation if they want to take advantage of ICD-10's greater specificity. As with many other bilateral organs, ICD-10 provides a way for you to distinguish which side -- right or left.

Don't worry: If the medical record doesn't identify which one, you'll still have an ICD-10 code for the ovary. Look at the following crosswalks to see what you'll need to know once you're using ICD-10:

183.0 crosswalks to one of the following:

• C56.1 -- Malignant neoplasm of right ovary
• C56.2 -- ... left ovary
• C56.9 -- ... unspecified ovary.

220 will cross to one of these three codes in ICD-10:

• D27.0 -- Benign neoplasm of right ovary
• D27.1 -- ... left ovary
• D27.9 -- ... unspecified ovary.

236.2 crosswalks to one of these three codes:

• D39.10 -- Neoplasm of uncertain behavior of unspecified ovary
• D39.11 -- ... right ovary
• D39.12 -- ... left ovary.