Q&A External Causes in ICD-10-CM

[Susan Lee]

Can you discuss external causes documentation in ICD-10-CM? Is there a rule of when to document the cause, the intent, place of occurrence, and the patient status depending on the condition or injury?

 

[Ruth Sheets]

This would be a good topic for the Q&A webinar, but you can also find the answer by reading reading the guidelines for Chapter 20, found in guideline I.C.20. One thing that is interesting is that "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." However it goes on to indicate that providers are encouraged to voluntarily report external cause codes... and then gives the "rules" for doing so. As guidelines go, it is rather straightforward so give reading these guidelines a try!

 

[Ruth Sheets]

A related topic, "Can a Z code be a primary/admitting DX?" was discussed by Alicia in the March 2016 Q&A Webinar by Alicia Scott. She explained where to find this information in the guidelines. Hint: look at section 1.C.21.c.16.

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