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Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Decide How to Report Liver and Colon Neoplasms

Published on Fri Jun 10, 2011

Question: A patient presents for chemotherapy to treat a secondary liver neoplasm. It metastasized from a primary colon neoplasm that was removed surgically and is no longer being treated. Which ICD-9 codes should I report?Nevada SubscriberAnswer: You should represent your diagnoses by reporting the following codes in this order:V58.11 (Encounter for antineoplastic chemotherapy) as primary diagnosis if the primary focus of the encounter is for chemotherapy197.7 (Secondary malignant neoplasm of respiratory and digestive systems; liver, specified as secondary) for the site being treated (liver metastasis)V10.05 (Personal history of malignant neoplasm of large intestine) to show the primary neoplasm is no longer present.History hint: You should choose V10.05 rather than a primary neoplasm code, such as 153.x (Malignant neoplasm of colon), because you indicated the primary neoplasm was removed surgically and there is no longer treatment aimed at that neoplasm.ICD-9 Official Guidelines support this use of a "history of" code: "When [...]
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