Prepare for thousands of ICD-10 code changes this year

by: Part B News staff Mar 22, 2016

Coders got their first look March 22 at the 2,670 proposed ICD-10-CM code changes that take effect Oct. 1, 2016, which were issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a text file on its website. The final code changes will be posted on the CDC’s website later this year.

This is the first update since the nation transitioned to the new code set after a five-year code freeze. Specifically, there are 1,943 new, 422 revised and 305 deleted codes. Some of the most notable additions are:

260 new diabetes combination codes for reporting manifestations;
152 new codes added to the already dense musculoskeletal chapter including bunions, temporomandibular joint conditions (adhesions, arthralgia), cervical spine disorders and atypical femoral fractures; and
885 new codes in Chapter 19, the majority of which are fracture codes including neck, base of skull, facial bones, Salter-Harris calcaneal fractures as well as other physeal fractures. Also of note are new codes for mechanical breakdown of catheters.

Although Chapter 19 had the most changes, note that it includes all seventh characters assignments for a single code. For example, S034XXA (Sprain of jaw, initial encounter), S034XXD (Sprain of jaw, subsequent encounter) and S034XXS (Sprain of jaw, sequela) are counted as three deleted codes.

Many of the deleted codes overall are unspecified or not elsewhere classified codes.

The chart below has a breakdown of the changes by chapter.

Chapter	New	Revised	Deleted
1: Certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)	0	0	0
2: Neoplasms (C00-D49)	12	56	1
3: Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism (D50-D89)	7	2	0
4: Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E89)	264	2	41
5: Mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders (F01-F99)	13	1	4
6: Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99)	20	2	0
7: Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59)	92	8	15
8: Diseases of the ear and mastoid process (H60-H95)	12	2	0
9: Diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99)	81	6	10
10: Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99)	4	2	1
11: Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K95)	83	3	17
12: Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L00-L99)	4	2	0
13: Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99)	152	2	10
14: Diseases of the genitourinary system (N00-N99)	62	15	15
15: Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)	67	29	8
16: Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96)	2	53	0
17: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)	21	0	4
18: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99)	79	0	9
19: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)	885	237	123
20: External causes of morbidity (V00-Y99)	40	0	42
21: Factors influencing health status and contact with health services (Z00-Z99)	43	0	5
Source: CDC

Find the complete list of changes on the CDC’s website at www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd9cm_maintenance.htm.

Stay tuned to Part B News for updates.

Blog Tags: ICD-10

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