Watch Your Heart Rate, Keep Your Blood Pressure Down: Master ICD-10 Coding of Circulatory Conditions

September 30, 2015 11 am Pacific / 12 pm Mountain / 1 pm Central / 2 pm Eastern Duration: 90 Minutes 90 Minutes
Ann Rambusch
Ann RambuschMSN, HCS-D, HCS-O, RN President, Rambusch Home Health Consulting, AHIMA Certified ICD-10 Trainer

Circulatory disorder codes were assigned as primary or secondary diagnoses in four of the top ten diagnosis codes used by SHP home health agencies in 2014. Coding circulatory disorders just got a little easier in ICD-10-CM. While ICD-10 is more detailed in every respect, the new classification has simplified the coding of diagnoses like hypertension and heart failure.

Just as we have seen with other diagnoses in ICD-10, it will be critical that coders and clinicians understand terminology, anatomy, and pathophysiology. There are new guidelines and combination codes for the coding of angina, coronary artery disease, and the coding of sequelae (late effects) of cerebrovascular disease.

Circulatory conditions always pose a challenge to coders and clinicians when it comes to correct diagnosis assignment. And sequencing diagnoses can be a little confusing. Some common questions asked by coders and clinicians are:

  • What’s a “STEMI”? How is it different from a non STEMI?
  • When does an MI become “old”?
  • What’s the default code for acute MI?
  • What are the guidelines governing hypertensive kidney disease and hypertensive heart failure?
  • What are the new guidelines governing angina and CAD?
  • What do I need to know to code late effects of a CVA?
  • How do I code the dominant side when a patient with hemiplegia due to a CVA is ambidextrous?

Knowing the answer to questions like those above is critical to coding these circulatory diagnoses correctly. The assignment and sequencing of diagnosis codes, such as ischemic heart disease, impacts the plan of care, may impact the risk adjustment of an agency’s outcomes and may also impact the agency’s reimbursement. Getting diagnoses right means selecting the right diagnosis codes, choosing the correct OASIS responses, and providing the documentation that supports them both.

This free webinar will focus on providing participants with the key steps in assignment of these common home health diagnoses using the ICD-10-CM classification system and the official guidelines governing the coding and sequencing of circulatory conditions. Attendees will be able to apply the ICD-10 guidelines and test their understanding of the assignment of circulatory disorder diagnosis codes using short scenarios throughout the webinar.