Ask the expert: Assigning ICD-9 codes for pressure ulcers that progress from one stage to another
HIM Connection, October 28, 2008
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM Connection!
Q: An admitting physician in an acute care facility documents that a patient has a pressure ulcer on the right hip. During the admission, a nurse places the patient on a pressure relief mattress, evaluates the ulcer, and treats it with dressings. The nurse also frequently repositions the patient’s hip. The nurse’s note states that the hip ulcer progressed from a stage II to a stage III ulcer during the stay. What are the appropriate codes for the pressure ulcer?
A: The coder should assign only one code for the highest stage of a given ulcer during an admission per the ICD-9-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. In this case, coders should report code 707.04 (pressure ulcer, hip) and code 707.23 (pressure ulcer, stage III).
Editor’s note: Gloryanne Bryant, RHIA, CCS, senior corporate director of coding and HIM compliance at Catholic Healthcare West in San Francisco, and Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CPC-I, director of HIM and coding for HCPro, Inc., in Marblehead, MA, answered this question. The Q&A was excerpted from the October issue of Briefings on Coding Compliance Strategies. For more information, click here.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to HIM Connection!
Comments
0 comments on “Ask the expert: Assigning ICD-9 codes for pressure ulcers that progress from one stage to another ”
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Identify potential Medicaid RAC target areas
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Q&A: Follow CMS' coding guidelines when using modifier -25
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q/A. One injection code or two?
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- CHANGES COMING: Key differences in nationwide rollout
- Searched