Orthopedic Coding Alert
New Cervical Disc Disorder Diagnoses Identify Level
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Abandon the mysterious “mid-cervical” term for more specific options.
After October 1, ICD-10-CM will revise the way you report cervical disc disorders and takes away the mystery of what “mid-cervical” actually means. Instead, you will have to identify the C4-C7 level, meaning the physician needs to document this information.
“This is a simply an expansion for greater specificity,” says Heidi Stout, BA, CPC, COSC, PCS, CCS-P, Coder on Call, Inc., Milltown, New Jersey. “Current code M50.02 (Cervical disc disorder with myelopathy, mid-cervical region) captures the C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7 levels, and as of October, we’ll have individual codes to specify each level.” The four new options are:
Similarly, you should delete M50.12 (Cervical disc disorder with radiculopathy, mid-cervical region) and add the following four options:
Strike through M50.22 (Other cervical disc displacement, mid-cervical region), and look to these more specific codes:
Again, you won’t need M50.32 (Other cervical disc degeneration, mid-cervical region). Instead, you will use:
You can also forget M50.82 (Other cervical disc disorders, mid-cervical region), and use these diagnoses:
Finally, as of October 1, you will stop using M50.92 (Cervical disc disorder, unspecified, mid-cervical region), and go for these codes instead:
Important: Remember, you should avoid the unspecified code whenever possible. Your physicians should document to the highest specificity, which includes the cervical level.
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