Wiki Physical Therapy accident

daedolos

Expert
Messages
464
Location
Long Beach
Best answers
0
Patient received fracture during PT. How would the W code be assigned? The Y07 series seems a bit malignant. Please advise.

Peace
?_?
 
Your query doesn't describe what actually happened at PT, i.e. exactly how the patient received their fracture. Hopefully there is documentation that will help you. External Cause Codes answer the questions of what, when, where, why, and how a patient sustained their injury, in your case a fracture. Other than "Assault" (Y07), which is probably unlikely, there are other possibilities to be considered. Was it a Slip, Trip, Stumble, or Fall (W00-W19); Exposure to Inanimate Mechanical Force (mainly W20-W23, or W49); or Exposure to Animate Mechanical Forces (mainly W50 & W51)? In addition to these would be Y92: Site of Occurrence Code (Y92.538: "Other" ambulatory health care services establishment (PT Facility)); a Y93: Activity Code (?Y93.A or Y93.B depending on the type/purpose of the PT Rx the patient was receiving); and a Y99: External Cause Status Code (probably Y99.8: "Other" external cause status, for being a "patient" at the time. But, if the pertinent information is not in the documentation, you are somewhat stuck.

Hopefully this helps you some. I refer you to the website www.icd10orthocoder.com and the "Blog" tab. There is a Blog about External Cause Coding, among others, that might be of help too.

Respectfully submitted, Alan Pechacek, M.D.
 
Top