Pediatric Coding Alert

This step-by-step guide makes adding colic, newborn feeding problems a breeze. Sticking with the current ICD-9 codes you use to describe a colicky newborn who's irritable, not nursing well, and hasn't regained his birth weight will result in three incorrect diagnoses entries and a truncated code denial when new codes go into effect this October. Check out this primer to prep your encounter sheet for the upcoming changes. Step 1: Add a 5th Digit to Your Feeding Problems' Code Once insurers start to require ICD-9 2010 diagnoses, expect denials on your newborn follow-up visits if you use feeding difficulties code 779.3 (Feeding problems in newborn). This code will require a fifth-digit of "1," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new diagnosis codes table available from cms.hhs.gov/ICD9Provider DiagnosticCodes/Downloads/New_Revised_Invalid_Codes_2009.zip. Example: After a newborn has been discharged from the hospital, "we always do a two- to three-day follow-up visit," [...]