Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Question: Our practice is buzzing with news that there will be a further expansion of ICD-10-CM codes (as though they were too few to begin with!) in October this year. How would it affect us?

California subscriber

Answer: Yes, you heard correctly. On April 27, the Federal Register published the Inpatient Prospective Payment Rule, which includes the new, revised and deleted ICD-10 codes that will go into effect on Oct. 1, 2016 — and the list includes a startling 1,900 new diagnosis codes that will end the partial freeze that the CDC has had in place since 2011.

Keep in mind: “The code lists that have been posted on the CMS and CDC websites are NOT the final list. The Addenda to be published in June is the complete, final list of code changes going into effect this October,” says Sue Bowman, MJ, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA, Senior Director of Coding Policy and Compliance at AHIMA.

No matter what your specialty is, chances are strong that you’ll have dozens of new, deleted or revised codes to study so you can ensure that your practice is using the most accurate codes this October, when the changes take effect. 422 codes revisions and 305 deletions are due in ICD-10-CM.

The premise for updates is that the new codes encompass the recent advances and trends in healthcare. The new codes have arrived sooner than many would have expected, giving additional time to the industry, coders, and providers to assimilate the nuances of the new codes until this October.

Seromas, hematomas to get own categories next year: The agency also debuted new codes for post-procedural hematomas following procedures, which will fall into new categories. These codes precede partner diagnoses that are proposed to debut on Oct. 1, 2017, which will specifically describe post-procedural seromas to differentiate between seromas and hematomas.

“Currently, postoperative seroma would be coded with postoperative hematoma,” according to the meeting minutes from the CDC’s March ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee Meeting. However, next year each condition should have its own code set, the meeting minutes reveal.

Resource: For more on the new ICD-10 codes, visit the Federal Register site at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-09120.pdf.