give 2 examples for when an ”external cause” icd code is required for fracture injures

by Ashtyn Mills 8 min read

General Guidelines and Examples The codes can be used with any code within the following ranges that an external cause code is applicable to: A00.0-T88.9 and Z00-Z99. Primarily, external cause codes are used with injury codes, but there are instances that it would be appropriate to further specify the cause.

Full Answer

What are the guidelines for external cause coding?

External Cause Coding Guidelines: used with any code in the range of A00.0-T88.9, Z00-Z99. Any health condition due to an external cause. External cause code for length of treatment: for each encounter where the condition is being treated.

What type of injuries are not coded?

Superficial injuries: Superficial injuries such as abrasions or contusions are not coded when associated with more severe injuries at the same site. When coding injuries assign separate codes for each injury unless a combination code is provided in which case the combination code is assigned.

What is external cause status in ICD 10?

External cause code status: indicate whether the accident or injury happened during a paid or volunteer activity (Y99.0-Y99.99) Here is an example of an accident case coded with ICD-10-CM. A 30-year-old patient was at a sports gymnasium, participating in a tap dancing contest to raise funds for muscular dystrophy.

Can the cause of an injury be built into a code?

Furthermore, there are some instances in which the cause of an injury is built into the primary diagnosis code (e.g., T360X1, Poisoning by penicillins, accidental). If it’s possible to submit external cause codes for a particular category or section of codes, you will see instructions to do so within the tabular list.

What is an example of an external cause code?

Let's walk through an example: If a patient arrives with an acute right anterior cruciate ligament sprain, caused by a slip and fall, the injury and external cause would be reported with the following codes: S83. 511A Sprain of anterior cruciate ligament of right knee, initial encounter. W01.

When are external cause codes used?

An external cause status code is used only once, at the initial encounter for treatment. Only one code from Y99 should be recorded on a medical record. Do not assign code Y99. 9, Unspecified external cause status, if the status is not stated.

Why are patients coded with an external cause code?

External cause codes identify the cause of an injury or health condition, the intent (accidental or intentional), the place where the incident occurred, the activity of the patient at the time of the incident, and the patient's status (such as civilian or military).

What is the purpose of external causes codes in the ICD-10?

The external cause-of-injury codes are the ICD codes used to classify injury events by mechanism and intent of injury. Intent of injury categories include unintentional, homicide/assault, suicide/intentional self-harm, legal intervention or war operations, and undetermined intent.

What is the purpose of external cause codes in the ICD-10 quizlet?

External Causes of Morbidity: External cause codes are intended to provide data for injury research and injury prevention strategies.

What healthcare setting uses external cause codes?

External cause codes may be used in any healthcare setting and with any diagnostic code. a. often used in ED, family practice, orthopedics, and ophthalmology b/c physicians specialize in circumstances or body systems frequently affected by external causes.

Which code describes the external causes of an injury?

In ICD-9 and ICD-9-CM, external cause of injury codes are often referred to as E-codes because they all began with the letter E. The E-codes range from E800 to E999. An associated variable named ECLASS can be used to classify external cause of injury diagnoses codes into specific categories.

What is an external cause?

In medicine, an external cause is a reason for the existence of a medical condition which can be associated with a specific object or acute process that was caused by something outside the body.

What is meant by external causes?

External-cause definition A cause for an effect in a system that is not a constituent of that system, especially causes of personal health problems or death, such as poison, weapon wounds, or accident. noun.

Are external cause codes listed first?

External cause of morbidity codes are never to be recorded as a principal diagnosis (first-listed in non-inpatient settings). The appropriate injury code should be sequenced before any external cause codes.

What is meant by external causes?

External-cause definition A cause for an effect in a system that is not a constituent of that system, especially causes of personal health problems or death, such as poison, weapon wounds, or accident. noun.

What is external cause code?

For instance, a heart attack due to strenuous activity, or signs and symptoms such as shoulder pain from a ground level fall.

When should an external cause status code be assigned?

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.

What is a sequelae code?

Sequelae codes are used to report late effects of an injury for as long as they are present or are being treated. When determining if a sequelae code should be reported, keep in mind that a sequela, or late effect, is not the same as a healing injury.

Is there a mandatory reporting requirement for Chapter 20?

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).

Can you assign a status code if there are no reportable external cause codes?

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.

Is morbidity code a primary diagnosis?

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.

What is the external cause code for length of treatment?

Use the full range of external cause codes: cause, intent, place of occurrence, activity and status for all injuries and other health conditions related to an external cause. Chapter 20 a4.

What is a late effect external cause code?

Late Effects of External Cause: 1) Late effects are reported using the external cause code with 7th character "S" for sequela. 2) A late effect external cause code should never be used with a current injury code. 3) Use a late effect external cause code for subsequent visits when a late effect of the initial injury is being treated. Do not use a late effect external cause code for follow-up care when no late effect is documented.

How many place codes are there in a clinical report?

Only 1 place code, 1 activity code, and 1 status code per encounter. If the reporting format limits the number of external cause codes than can be used in reporting clinical data, report the code for the cause/intent most related to the principal diagnosis.

How many place codes are there in a status code?

Only 1 place code, 1 activity code, and 1 status code per encounter.

What is primary injury?

Primary injury with damage to nerves/blood vessels: When a primary injury results in minor damage to peripheral nerves or blood vessels, the primary injury is sequenced first with additional codes for injuries to nerves and spinal cord and/ or injury to blood vessels.

What is the undetermined intent guideline?

Unknown or Undetermined Intent Guideline: If the intent of the cause of an injury or other conition is unknown or unspecified, code the intent as accidental intent. All transport accident categories assume accidental intent. External cause codes for events of undetermined intent are only for use if the documentation in the record specifies that the intent cannot be determined. (i.e. Did he fall, or was he pushed?)

When to use initial encounter?

Initial encounter is used while the patient is receiving active treatment for the injury. Subsesquent encounter is used for encounters after the patient has received active treatment of the injury and is receving routine care for the injury during the healing or recovery phase.

What is the first cause code?

In other words, the first cause code you list should be the one that describes the cause or intent most closely related to the principal diagnosis. Furthermore, per the official coding guidelines, external cause codes for the following events take precedence over all other external cause codes, in the following order of importance (i.e., the third-listed item trumps all items except the first and second-listed items):

Is ICd 10 more specific than ICd 9?

With five times as many codes as ICD-9, ICD-10 is certainly more specific. It’s no wonder, then,...

Can you report an injury more than once?

Typically, you would only report place of occurrence, activity, and external cause status codes during your initial evaluation of the patient. However, there are a handful of codes—particularly ones that describe how an injury happened—that you can report more than once.

Do you have to report external cause codes?

However, even though there’s no national requirement for cing providers to report external cause codes, the coding guidelines strongly encourage medical professionals to do so anyway because the codes “provide valuable data for injury research and evaluation of injury prevention strategies.”.

Can you submit external cause codes for every diagnosis?

They don’t apply to all categories of diagnosis codes. That is, you shouldn’t submit external cause codes for every single diagnosis, because in some cases, it doesn’t make sense to attribute a condition to a specific cause.

What chapter is external cause code?

The following coding guidance is provided at the beginning of the chapter, "Use secondary code (s) from chapter 20, External Causes of Morbidity, to indicate cause of injury." Codes within the T section that include the external cause do not require an additional external cause code. The Official Coding Guidelines clarified the use of external cause codes in 2014. The guidelines state: “There is no national requirement for mandatory ICD-10-CM external cause code reporting. Unless a provider is subject to a state-based external cause code reporting mandate or these codes are required by a particular payer, reporting of ICD-10-CM codes in Chapter 20, External Causes of Morbidity, is not required. In the absence of a mandatory reporting requirement, providers are encouraged to voluntarily report external cause codes, as they provide valuable data for injury research and evaluation of injury prevention strategies.”

What is the ICd 10 for head injuries?

In ICD-10-CM, injuries are grouped by body part rather than by category, so all injuries of a specific site (such as head and neck) are grouped together rather than groupings of all fractures or all open wounds. Categories grouped by injury in ICD-9-CM such as fractures (800–829), dislocations (830–839), and sprains and strains (840–848) are grouped in ICD-10-CM by site, such as injuries to the head (S00–S09), injuries to the neck (S10–S19), and injuries to the thorax (S20–S29).

What are the three types of Gustilo fractures?

The classes are I, II, and III, with the third class further subdivided into A, B, or C.

What is a subsequent encounter?

Subsequent encounter (D) is used for encounters after the patient has received active treatment of the injury and is receiving routine care for the injury during the healing or recovery phase (e.g., cast change or removal, an x-ray to check healing status of fracture, removal of external or internal fixation device, medication adjustment, other aftercare and follow-up visits following injury treatment).

What is initial encounter?

Initial encounter (A) is used while the patient is receiving active treatment for the injury (e.g., surgical treatment, emergency department encounter, and evaluation and continuing treatment by the same or a different physician). The appropriate seventh character for initial encounter should also be assigned for a patient who delayed seeking treatment for the fracture or nonunion.

When coding a poisoning or reaction to the improper use of a medication, what is the appropriate code?

When coding a poisoning or reaction to the improper use of a medication (e.g., overdose, wrong substance given or taken in error, wrong route of administration), assign first the appropriate code from categories T36–T50. The sequencing for a toxic effect of substances chiefly nonmedicinal as to source (T51-T65) is the same as for coding poisonings. Poisoning codes have an associated intent: accidental, intentional self-harm, assault, and undetermined. Use additional code (s) for all manifestations of poisonings.

Is ICd 10 the same as ICd 9?

ICD-10-CM provides greater specificity in coding injuries than ICD-9-CM. While many of the coding guidelines for injuries remain the same as ICD-9-CM, ICD-10-CM does include some new features, such as seventh characters.

General Guidelines and Examples

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The codes can be used with any code within the following ranges that an external cause code is applicable to: A00.0-T88.9 and Z00-Z99. Primarily, external cause codes are used with injury codes, but there are instances that it would be appropriate to further specify the cause. For instance, a heart attack due to stren…
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The Codes We Report Are

  • S93.402A Sprain of Unspecified Ligament of Left Ankle, initial encounter W11.XXA Fall On and From Ladder, initial encounter Y92.129 Unspecified Place in Nursing Home as the place of occurrence of the external cause Y99.2 Volunteer Activity In the example above, no activity was reported for the patient during the injury, we do not assign Y93.9 Activity, Unspecified. Keep in m…
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Sequencing Multiple External Causes

  • When multiple injuries are caused by different reasons, ICD-10-CM Guidelines clarify what order or priority the external causes should be reported, as follows: Child and adult abuse, then terrorism events, followed by cataclysmic events, then, lastly, transport accidents. In child and adult abuse cases, assault codes are used to report any injuries in confirmed cases. If the perpetrator is kno…
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Sequelae External Cause Codes

  • Sequelae codes are used to report late effects of an injury for as long as they are present or are being treated. When determining if a sequelae code should be reported, keep in mind that a sequela, or late effect, is not the same as a healing injury. A healing injury should be reported with the seventh character “A” or “D” as appropriate for follow-up care.
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Terrorism Guidelines

  • Code category Y38, Terrorism is only reported when the cause of the stated injury is reported as such by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If the event or cause is not reported by the FBI as terrorism, or it is suspected, it is then classified as an assault. Additionally, more than one code may be assigned from this category in the scenario that the injury or injuries resulted from multi…
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