ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Chronic or acute? You'll need to know this autumn. You'll soon need to jump through more diagnosis coding hoops for patients with thrombosis, as ICD-9 2010 sports a host of new codes to more accurately represent the condition. Arm yourself: Use this expert input on the new code subsets and you'll have no trouble picking the correct thrombosis diagnosis when ICD-9 2010 becomes effective on Oct. 1. Separate 'New' From 'Old' With 453.xx Patients who report to the ED with thrombosis helped spark an expansion of the 453.xx code set. Most of the new additions will require five digits beginning with ICD-9 2010, confirms Jill Young, CPC, CEDC, CIMC, president of Young Medical Consulting in East Lansing, Mich. The new codes of most interest to ED providers are: • 453.50 (Chronic venous embolism and thrombosis of unspecified deep vessels of lower extremity), 453.51 (Chronic venous embolism and thrombosis of deep [...]