The ICD-10-CM is a catalog of diagnosis codes used by medical professionals for medical coding and reporting in health care settings. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) maintain the catalog in the U.S. releasing yearly updates.
Why ICD-10 codes are important
Signs and symptoms are acceptable if no cause for them has been established by the provider. If there is a combination code that includes the symptom, an additional code for the symptom is not reported. An example is a patient with alcoholic hepatitis presenting with ascites. Only ICD-10-CM code K70.11 would be reported since this code includes ...
Explicitly document findings to support diagnoses of › Stroke sequela codes (ICD-10 category I69.-) should acute stroke, stroke and subsequent sequela of be used at the time of an ambulatory care visit stroke, and personal history of stroke without sequela, oce, which is considered subsequent to any acute
stroke occurs when there is disruption of blood flow to brain tissue, this leads to ischemia (deprivation of oxygen) and potentially infarction (dysfunctional scar tissue). Strokes can be either hemorrhagic, or embolic/thrombotic. Hemorrhagic strokes occur as a result of a ruptured cerebral blood vessel. Embolic/thrombic strokes occur as a result of an obstructed cerebral vessel.
In ICD-10 CM, code category I63 should be utilized when the medical documentation indicates that an infarction or stroke has occurred. Coding of sequelae of stroke and infarction also demands a level of detail often missing in medical records. There are specific codes which indicate the cause of the infarction, such as embolism or thrombosis, as well as the specific affected arteries. The sixth digit provides additional information which designates the affected side when applicable.
The patient is admitted into hospital and diagnosed with cerebral infarction, unspecified ( ICD-10 code I63.9). At the 3-week post-discharge follow-up appointment for the cerebral infarction, the office visit note states the patient had a stroke and has a residual deficit of hemiplegia, affecting the right dominant side.
Codes I60-I69 should never be used to report traumatic intracranial events. Normally, do not report codes from I80-I67 with codes from I69. ...
Documentation of unilateral weakness in conjunction with a stroke is considered by the ICD to be hemiparesis/hemiplegia due to the stroke and should be reported separately. Hemiparesis is not considered a normal sign or symptom of stroke and is always reported separately. If the patient’s dominant side is not documented, ...