ICD-10-CM External Cause Codes Say It All
These add-on codes add more detail to your claims.
H
idden within the elaborate ICD-10-CM coding system is a sys-
tem of numerical shorthand that lets your coders tell the
story behind a patient's injury or health condition. These
add-on codes let you assign as many external cause codes as neces-
sary to explain the patient's condition to the fullest extent possible.
Though there is no national mandate requiring their use, certain pay-
ers and state-based organizations require external cause codes, argu-
ing that they're helpful in terms of injury research and evaluation of
injury prevention strategies.
There are 4 different types of external cause codes. Each code
answers one of the following questions: How did the injury or condition
happen? Where did it happen? What was the patient doing when it hap-
pened? Was it intentional or unintentional?
4 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 1 6
Coding & Billing
Robert Lathrop, CPC, CASCC
• THE WHOLE STORY You can use external cause codes to add more detail to your claims to accurately describe patient injuries.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
