Wiki Sequela

[HaywardLo_1961@hotmail.com]

A work comp patient fractures his ankle on 10/1/15 ? We treat him for his normal ankle fracture care. On 4/1/16, he returns with pain in the same ankle ? x-rays show he now has osteoarthritis. How would the visit be coded?

Post traumatic OA as the primary dx
Ankle fx dx with an S as the sequela as the secondary dx?

 

[mitchellde]

If the provider documents the OA is due to the fx the yes that is how it will be coded.

 

[HaywardLo_1961@hotmail.com]

the providers are not liking this at all

 

[mitchellde]

the providers are not liking this at all

Honestly it is not that different. In ICD-9 the provider must document that the OA is due to the fx. Then it is coded as secondary OA localized with the additional code from cate 905 for late effect of fx. It is just that most it seems were not taught to code this way and are unaware of the similarities in the two systems.