Wiki Coding Pressure Ulcers in the same area

[jessicalao]

I'm need of clarification.

When a patient has 2 pressure ulcers in the same area (ie. 2 separate ulcers on the left buttock, stage 2), would the code be used twice since the guidelines states "assign as many codes ... to identify all ..."? Or would coding it once suffice since both ulcers are in the same area?

Thank you!

 

[thomas7331]

Unlike CPT codes, you would never report the exact same ICD-10 diagnosis code more than once on the same record. I believe that doing so would cause a claim submission error, and most systems I've worked with would actually not even allow you to make the same entry twice. It's the same condition, and doesn't matter that the condition is present on multiple sites - you only report it once.

 

[jessicalao]

Thank you so much for the clarification. I thought what you said would be the reason however I couldn’t be sure.