Radiology Coding Alert

Use 2 examples to master Excludes1 vs. Excludes2.Kidney stone sufferers number in the millions each year. Because those numbers are on the rise, the diagnosis code for this ailment is sure to still rank among your commonly used codes when the transition to ICD-10 occurs in 2013.Good news: For "calculus of kidney and ureter" codes, you'll find almost a one-to-one code correspondence between ICD-9 2011 and ICD-10 2011:As shown above, the major difference is that ICD-10 offers a code (N20.2) that is appropriate when the patient has calculi of both the kidney and the ureter. Under ICD-9, you would report the same diagnosis using two codes (592.0 and 592.1).Instructional notes: The "includes" notes for these codes are nearly identical for ICD-9 and ICD-10. Be sure to take special care in reviewing the "excludes" notes, though, because ICD-10 has two different types of excludes notes that have two different meanings.ICD-9 guidelines [...]