The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CMS released new ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes and ICD-10-PCS procedure codes for use on claims submitted on or after April 1.
New ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes for reporting COVID-19 vaccine status were implemented by the CDC today. CMS also released nine new ICD-10-PCS procedure codes for the Introduction or Infusion of therapeutics, including vaccines and boosters for COVID-19.
The new ICD-10-CM codes are used by the revenue cycle's coding team to report patients who are unvaccinated for COVID-19, partially vaccinated for COVID-19, and other underimmunization status.
The new ICD-10-PCS codes will be used to report certain COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, the administration of fostamatinib (an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor used to treat adults with low platelet count due to chronic immune thrombocytopenia), and certain monoclonal antibodies.
In the April 1 code update, the CDC also made available a Tabular List and Alphabetic Index addendum, Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting update, ICD-10-CM order file, and finalized list of codes and descriptions.
In March 2021, the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee announced it was considering an annual ICD-10-CM/PCS code update for April 1 in addition to the October 1 update. In the fiscal year 2022 IPPS final rule, the additional annual implementation date of April 1 was officially adopted.
The coding department is one of the most critical parts of the revenue cycle. Because coding occurs mid-cycle, it provides an opportunity to catch mistakes introduced earlier in the process, as well as preventing similar errors in the future.
Staying abreast of these regulatory coding updates is important for revenue cycle leaders as coding—and its completeness and accuracy—has a profound impact on an organization's bottom line.
Amanda Norris is the Director of Content for HealthLeaders.