ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee Considers AHCC-proposed Code Change Requests
Gaithersburg, MD (PRWEB) March 18, 2016 -- The Association of Home Care Coding & Compliance (AHCC), a division of DecisionHealth, and its credentialing body, the Board of Medical Coding & Compliance (BMSC), are hard at work monitoring changes as the health care industry continues to transition to ICD-10.
On behalf of the home health industry, AHCC submitted four code change requests to the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee. Three of the proposals were immediately discussed at the March 9-10, 2016 committee meeting. One was deferred to allow the committee time to determine if an appropriate code currently exists.
The submitted requests included: 1) new codes to capture additional severity levels of non-pressure chronic ulcers; 2) new codes to capture non-healing surgical wounds and additional clarifying terms for non-healing trauma wounds; 3) additional code options at M80.8- for pathological fracture of ribs and pelvis due to osteoporosis, and new codes for Type 2 diabetes mellitus with ketoacidosis without coma and with coma. The fourth request, for additional code options at M80.8-, was deferred. All proposed change requests are for the October, 2017 ICD-10 code update.
“AHCC and BMSC board members are committed to ensuring that the home care industry’s voice is heard when code and coding guidance changes are contemplated,” says Tricia A. Twombly, BSN, RN, HCS-D, HCS-O, HCS-H, COS-C, CHCE, AHIMA approved ICD-10-CM certified trainer, ICE Certified Credentialing Specialist and CEO of BMSC. “The community of providers has a voice through AHCC and we are being heard.”
AHCC welcomes your input. If you have a coding question or a question about coding guidance, submit it to AHCC for review at AHCCVoice(at)decisionhealth(dot)com.
About AHCC and BMSC
AHCC is the community for professionals dedicated to providing quality care in post-acute care settings and establishing, meeting, and maintaining standards of excellence in their area of expertise.
AHCC’s credentialing arm, the Board of Medical Specialty Coding & Compliance (BMSC), offers professional credentials, including the only nationally accredited home health coding credential that tests coding skills exclusively, the Home Care Coding Specialist—Diagnosis (HCS-D), and the nationally accredited Home Care Clinical Specialist—OASIS (HCS-O), and the Home Care Coding Specialist—Hospice (HCS-H) launched in February 2016.
BMSC has been credentialing home health coders since 2003. More than 63% of agencies require coders to have earned the HCS-D credential as a condition of employment. The credentials are overseen by an independent board of home health and OASIS experts nationally recognized as leading authorities. Each board member has more than 25 years of experience in home health and hospice, and all are in-demand home health and hospice coding educators.
Corinne Kuypers-Denlinger, DecisionHealth, http://www.decisionhealth.com, +1 301-287-2363, [email protected]
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