• Non-pressure ulcers now have 3 new code subcategories to include those ulcers that are down to the muscle or bone but do not have necrosis and for those ulcers that have tendon/ligaments showing. The clinician should always document the severity of the non-pressure ulcer in terms of skin breakdown, fatty layer, muscle exposed, muscle exposed with necrosis, bone exposed, bone exposed with necrosis, or other appropriate descriptive terms (tendon/ligament, hard eschar, slough obscuring wound bed, etc.).
• C Diff is now being captured as being recurrent or not stated as being recurrent. Recurrence is defined by complete resolution of C diff symptoms while on appropriate therapy, followed by subsequent return of diarrhea and other symptoms after treatment has been stopped. Recurrence usually occurs within one week after treatment stops but may happen up to 8 weeks later. The physician would need to confirm whether C diff is recurrent or not.
• Types of myocardial infarctions now play a role in determining the appropriate ICD-10 code. Type 1 is the most common MI which is associated with ischemia and due to primary coronary even. Type 2 MI is due to imbalance in supply and demand of oxygen. Type 3, (which we wouldn’t see in home health), is sudden cardiac death, including cardiac arrest. Type 4 MIs are associated with percutaneous coronary intervention while type 5 MIs are associated with a CABG procedure.
• Secondary pulmonary hypertension diagnosis code has been further detailed to describe what the condition is that is causing the secondary pulmonary hypertension, including left heart disease, lung disease, etc.
• Lumbar stenosis should be classified with or without neurogenic claudication. Neurogenic claudication is leg pain with walking. The physician must confirm neurogenic claudication for it to be coded.
• Bowel obstructions can now be captured as complete or incomplete/partial. Complete bowel obstructions would need surgery to correct while incomplete/partial bowel obstructions can be sent home for it to resolve. The coding specialists need to know whether a bowel obstruction is resolved upon discharge from the hospital. Resolved conditions cannot be coded in home health except for in OASIS items M1011 and M1017 when they reflect the patient’s recent history.
• New coding guidelines state that if a patient’s visual category is not documented then coding specialists can only code unqualified visual loss. It would be beneficial to query the physician to determine patient’s visual category to be more specific with coding of low vision and blindness. Also, the laterality of the low vision and blindness is necessary in retrieving the most specific code.

• Query the provider for specifics that are not included in the physician documentation prior to completing assessment.
• Specify sites and laterality of wounds
• Specify etiology of wounds (surgical, traumatic, diabetic, arterial, venous, etc)
• Query the provider for late effects of CVA if there are none documented in clinical paperwork
• List the type of MI the patient experienced
• Always document patient’s smoking/tobacco use status (current or history of, and what product)
• Don’t list diagnoses on the plan of care that are not actively being addressed or impacting the plan of care
• If there are diagnoses listed on the plan of care that will likely impact it, but no direct interventions regarding those conditions are present, document how they will impact the POC
• Document if patient’s substance disorders are in remission per physician documentation or query to determine this.
• Document the specific type of heart failure a patient has been diagnosed with
• Specify which type of diabetes a patient has been diagnosed with, and what, if any, manifestations are present.

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