This is not true, the provider must state a relationship between the diabetes and the complications. If you have an official reference that states otherwise then I am interested in reading it.
AHA Coding Clinic, First Quarter 2016, pages 11-13, ruled that we CAN assume a "cause-and-effect relationship between diabetes and certain diseases of the kidneys, nerves, and circulatory system." It goes on to state that "if physician documentation specifies diabetes mellitus is not the underlying cause of the other condition, the condition should not be coded as a diabetic complication."
The "assumed cause-and-effect relationships in the classification are not necessarily the same in ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM."
This ruling quotes a previous ruling from "Third Quarter 2012, page 3, that also applies to ICD-10-CM", that states that two conditions do not need to be listed together in the health record...which backs up the causal relationship theory...but it also states that "the fact that a patient has two conditions that commonly occur together does not necessarily mean they are related". This ruling from 2012 also states that "the entire record should be reviewed to determine whether a relationship between two conditions exists." Does this advice give coders the authority to "determine" a causal relationship?? Is this confusion why they came out with the 2016 ruling that INSTRUCTS us to assume a causal relationship?
I can honestly say that I am still confused about this 2016 ruling and would like further discussion/clarification about this NEW theory of DM coding. What say you?