Gastroenterology Coding Alert

Also: Many ICD-9 additions should bolster neonatal, pediatric Dx coding. A patient has had his colon removed. Now your physician is treating a patient for an inflammation of the pouch, a surgically created chamber to contain waste before excretion. But how do you code it? Ileitis (555.0, Regional enteritis; small intestine)? Colitis (555.1, Regional enteritis; large intestine)? In 2010, ICD-9 solves this and other diagnosis-coding conundrums, especially if your gastroenterologist treats newborns or infants. "The more specific the codes, the better for all," says Gwenn S. O'Keeffe, MD, CEO and founder of Pediatrics Now LLC (www.pediatricsnow.com) in Massachusetts. "We can be more specific with what the child actually has which benefits the family, the medical record, and our ability to be paid fairly and correctly." "Sometimes we need vague codes, sometimes specific -- both are important -- but we do need more specific codes for those diagnoses unique to kids," O'Keeffe adds. [...]