HCC codes are ICD-9 codes that were given a severity ranking. More specific codes have a higher ranking than unspecified codes. You code as you normally would but just make sure that you are coding with ICD-9 codes as specific as possible and using all the codes that apply to that visit per the documentation. If you use codes with a higher HCC ranking, you get more "credit". For example, if a patient is diabetic and they have other problems associated or caused by the diabetes, use the most specific codes 250.4x or 250.5x, etc instead of 250.0x. Of course, providers need some training also to be most specific in their documentation.
diagnosis codes, diagnosis coding