The external cause of morbidity codes capture how the injury or health condition happened (cause), the intent (unintentional or accidental; or intentional, such as suicide or assault), the place where the event occurred, the activity of the patient at the time of the event, and the person's status (e.g., civilian, ...
Limited mandibular range of motion The 2022 edition of ICD-10-CM M26. 52 became effective on October 1, 2021.
00xx–T88. 99XXS (ICD-10) require the reporting of a valid External Cause-of-Injury Code.” According to the publication, while external cause codes are not valid as principal diagnosis codes, if the principal diagnosis code is trauma-related and there is no external cause code, then the record will be rejected.
2022 ICD-10-PCS Procedure Code F07K0ZZ: Range of Motion and Joint Mobility Treatment of Musculoskeletal System - Upper Back / Upper Extremity.
Hemiplegia, unspecified affecting left nondominant side The 2022 edition of ICD-10-CM G81. 94 became effective on October 1, 2021. This is the American ICD-10-CM version of G81.
R29. 898 - Other Symptoms and Signs Involving the Musculoskeletal System [Internet]. In: ICD-10-CM.
* External causes of death include intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning (including drug overdose), and complication of medical or surgical care and are identified with International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes V01–Y89 and U01–U03.
Use the full range of external cause codes to completely describe the cause, the intent, the place of occurrence and if applicable, the activity of the patient at the time of the event, and the patients status, for all injuries and other health conditions due to an external cause.
External cause codes are used to report injuries, poisonings, and other external causes. (They are also valid for diseases that have an external source and health conditions such as a heart attack that occurred while exercising.)
Limited range of motion is a term meaning that a joint or body part cannot move through its normal range of motion.
Z74.0ICD-10-CM Code for Reduced mobility Z74. 0.
Full-term premature rupture of membranes, unspecified as to length of time between rupture and onset of labor. O42. 92 is a billable/specific ICD-10-CM code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis for reimbursement purposes. The 2022 edition of ICD-10-CM O42.
External cause of morbidity codes provide additional information such as how the injury occurred, the intent, the place it occurred and the status of the patient at the time of the injury. There is no national requirement for mandatory reporting of these codes.
An external cause code can be used with any code (A00.0-T88.9, Z00-Z99) but are mostly used for injuries
Coders may assign as many external cause codes as necessary to fully report the injury (or other disease)
Y92.129 Unspecified Place in Nursing Home as the place of occurrence of the external cause
For instance, a heart attack due to strenuous activity, or signs and symptoms such as shoulder pain from a ground level fall.
An external cause status code should be assigned whenever an external cause code is assigned. Only one status code may be reported at the initial encounter and, just like the Activity and Place of Occurrence codes, Y99.9 Unspecified External Cause status should not be reported if it is not stated within the record.
Before we dive in, remember: external causes of morbidity codes are never to be coded as the primary or principle diagnosis. These unique codes within chapter twenty are always to be used as secondary codes to provide supplementary data on injuries and other health conditions captured within the health record.
That said, there are still no national guidelines for mandatory reporting for the codes of Chapter 20: External Causes of Morbidity. The exception to this are providers who are required by a particular payer, or a state-based mandate. As such, it’s important to stay informed on what is required for reporting for your provider (s).
Also, never assign a status code if there are no reportable external cause codes, such as with poisonings. Example: A 41-year-old male came into the ER with his spouse. He states he fell off a ladder while volunteering at a nursing home, and reports left ankle pain.
Activity and Place of Occurrence codes are only reported once during the initial encounter, unless a new injury occurs while hospitalized. It is important to note that both Y92.9 Unspecified Place or Not Applicable and Y93.9 Activity, Unspecified are never to be used if the place or activity are not stated. When reporting external cause codes, there should be one place of occurrence, one activity, and one status code, unless there is a new injury. However, it is possible to report more than one external cause code in order to accurately report how the injury happened.
• External cause codes are intended to provide data for injury research and evaluation of injury prevention strategies.
The place of occurrence code is Y92.410 as there is no specific code for a mountain highway. In the Index, under highway (interstate) appears that it may be the correct code since interstate is in parentheses. But on further review, Y92.410 appears to be the best choice.
The external cause code, with the appropriate seventh character is assigned for each encounter for which the injury is being treated. Codes from categories Y92 and Y93 are only assigned on the initial encounter, and so are appropriate only with the seventh character A. No external cause status code is assigned because the coding guidelines state that Y99.9 is not assigned if the status is not stated, and this is a subsequent encounter. It is presumed to be inappropriate for use on subsequent encounters because the complete information would not be available in the record, and the details have already been provided at the initial encounter.
In a fracture with a spinal cord injury, ICD -10-CM does not have a combination so these conditions need to be coded separately. The note at category S14 states to code also any associated fracture of cervical vertebra. The quadriplegia is not coded separately, as this is the current episode of the injury. When you reference quadriplegia, traumatic in the Index, the coder is referred back to the S14 code. The sixth digit of 1 for code S06.9x1A indicates a loss of consciousness of 30 minutes or less. The place of occurrence code is Y92.410 as there is no specific code for a mountain highway. In the Index, under highway (interstate) appears that it may be the correct code since interstate is in parentheses. But on further review, Y92.410 appears to be the best choice. Assigning a “place of occurrence” code in some cases is not clear in the classification system. A code from the Y93 category (activity code) is not assigned because none is particularly applicable. Riding a bicycle is similar, but not the same as a motorcycle. There are few choices when it pertains to transport accidents. There is no particular “activity” described in the scenario. Driving his motorcycle does not fall within the intent of the activity codes, as that information is already captured by the V20 code. If he was sending a text message while driving his motorcycle, that would be an activity.
When you reference quadriplegia, traumatic in the Index, the coder is referred back to the S14 code. The sixth digit of 1 for code S06.9x1A indicates a loss of consciousness of 30 minutes or less.
EXTERNAL CAUSE CODE CAN NEVER BE A PRINCIPAL DIAGNOSIS
NO EXTERNAL CAUSE CODE NEEDED IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES