Jo
Ann Steigerwald, RHIT, ACS-GI, ACS-OH 
408 ICD-9 code changes take effect Oct. 1!
It’s no mistake: You really will face 408 ICD-9-CM code changes on Oct. 1. The number of new codes alone – 331, to be exact – is 2-3 times greater than you’ve had to incorporate in most recent years. And it includes several brand-new code categories that don’t even exist now!
Don’t waste another minute – jump on the bandwagon and prepare before it’s too late. The sheer volume of codes this year makes last-minute provider education and practice preparation impractical. Get the first, comprehensive look at some truly useful new codes … and start preparing your providers right now for the detailed documentation you’ll need.
Case-in-point: 73 new and 28 revisions will tremendously increase – and completely change – your code choices in neoplasm categories 203.xx-209.xx. (Don’t recognize category 209.xx? It makes its debut with 43 codes for various carcinoid tumors.) “In relapse” is a phrase your providers may need to document more frequently. Coding expert Jo Ann Steigerwald, RHIT, ACS-GI, ACS-OH walks you step-by-step through all the code changes, including:
- Secondary diabetes mellitus: 20 codes make up brand-new code category 249.xx.
- Headache & migraine: Another completely new category – 339.xx – provides specific diagnoses for various types of headache. Documentation is required to identify not only the type, but also whether it’s episodic, chronic or acute. More than two dozen new codes grace the 346.xx category.
- Pressure ulcers: Coding by stage will now be the rule. Stage I and II ulcers are more common than the more serious Stage III and Stage IV ulcers. The new codes 707.20-707.24 indicate the four stages, plus an “unspecified stage” code.
- Pregnancy complications: This section of ICD-9-CM expands with the addition of code categories 678.xx for fetal conditions and 679.xx for maternal/fetal complications.
- Pap smears: Gone is simple 795.1 for “nonspecific abnormal Pap smear of other site.” Prepare for 9 new 795.1x codes for various abnormal vaginal Paps, mirrored closely by 10 new anal Pap codes 796.7x.
- V codes: “personal history” of fractures and pregnancy conditions are among the whopping 42 new V codes. Exposures to hazardous substances dominate the V87 category…as well as personal history of antineoplastic chemotherapy, monoclonal drug therapy and other drug therapy.
- And much more!
