Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, aggressive skin cancer that develops from hormone making cells in the skin. Unlike basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma, MCC will often metastasize to the lymph nodes and internal organs. The cure rate is reported at 80 percent for those cases that have not yet metastasized, ...
John Verhovshek. John Verhovshek, MA, CPC, is a contributing editor at AAPC. He has been covering medical coding and billing, healthcare policy, and the business of medicine since 1999. He is an alumnus of York College of Pennsylvania and Clemson University.
Z85.821 is a billable diagnosis code used to specify a medical diagnosis of personal history of merkel cell carcinoma. The code Z85.821 is valid during the fiscal year 2021 from October 01, 2020 through September 30, 2021 for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions.#N#The ICD-10-CM code Z85.821 might also be used to specify conditions or terms like history of merkel cell carcinoma or history of primary malignant neoplasm of skin. The code is exempt from present on admission (POA) reporting for inpatient admissions to general acute care hospitals.#N#The code Z85.821 describes a circumstance which influences the patient's health status but not a current illness or injury. The code is unacceptable as a principal diagnosis.
The General Equivalency Mapping (GEM) crosswalk indicates an approximate mapping between the ICD-10 code Z85.821 its ICD-9 equivalent. The approximate mapping means there is not an exact match between the ICD-10 code and the ICD-9 code and the mapped code is not a precise representation of the original code.
The code is exempt from present on admission (POA) reporting for inpatient admissions to general acute care hospitals. The code Z85.821 describes a circumstance which influences the patient's health status but not a current illness or injury. The code is unacceptable as a principal diagnosis.
Z85.821 is exempt from POA reporting - The Present on Admission (POA ) indicator is used for diagnosis codes included in claims involving inpatient admissions to general acute care hospitals. POA indicators must be reported to CMS on each claim to facilitate the grouping of diagnoses codes into the proper Diagnostic Related Groups (DRG). CMS publishes a listing of specific diagnosis codes that are exempt from the POA reporting requirement. Review other POA exempt codes here.
Treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy (PDT), and biologic therapy. PDT uses a drug and a type of laser light to kill cancer cells.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. The two most common types are basal cell cancer and squamous cell cancer. They usually form on the head, face, neck, hands, and arms. Another type of skin cancer, melanoma, is more dangerous but less common.
Merkel cell carcinoma. Clinical Information. A carcinoma arising from merkel cells located in the basal layer of the epidermis and occurring most commonly as a primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin. Merkel cells are tactile cells of neuroectodermal origin and histologically show neurosecretory granules.
All neoplasms are classified in this chapter, whether they are functionally active or not. An additional code from Chapter 4 may be used, to identify functional activity associated with any neoplasm. Morphology [Histology] Chapter 2 classifies neoplasms primarily by site (topography), with broad groupings for behavior, malignant, in situ, benign, ...
The skin of the head and neck are a common site of merkel cell carcinoma, occurring generally in elderly patients. (holland et al., cancer medicine, 3d ed, p1245) A rare malignant cutaneous tumor seen in elderly patients. Its usual location is on the head, neck and extremities.
A primary malignant neoplasm that overlaps two or more contiguous (next to each other) sites should be classified to the subcategory/code .8 ('overlapping lesion'), unless the combination is specifically indexed elsewhere.
Neoplasms. Clinical Information. A carcinoma arising from merkel cells located in the basal layer of the epidermis and occurring most commonly as a primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin. Merkel cells are tactile cells of neuroectodermal origin and histologically show neurosecretory granules.