News: FY 2019 ICD-10-CM update released

The recently released fiscal year (FY) 2019 ICD-10-CM update adds some codes to allow additional diagnoses to be reported while adding others for greater specificity, Revenue Cycle Advisor reported. The updated codes go into effect October 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The update includes 279 additions, 143 revisions, and 51 deletions, according to JustCoding. Most represent minor changes such as correcting typos. For example, the spelling of the descriptor for code E67.1 (hypercarotinemia) is corrected to hypercarotenemia.

A number of deletions and additions focus on providing greater specificity, such as the deletion of C43.11, Malignant melanoma of right eyelid, including canthus. This one code is replaced by two codes that differentiate between the upper and lower eyelid, C43.111, Malignant melanoma of right upper eyelid, including canthus, and C43.112, Malignant melanoma of right lower eyelid, including canthus. Providers should include this greater specificity in their documentation to allow coders to select the correct code and avoid reporting unspecified codes.

The update also includes the first-ever codes for classifying human trafficking abuse, urged on by the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Hospitals Against Violence initiative, AHA News reported.

The complete set of files can be downloaded from the CDC’s website.

Editor’s note: To read Revenue Cycle Advisor’s coverage of this story, click here. To read JustCoding’s coverage, click here. To read about the human trafficking codes, visit the AHA website. To read about the ICD-10-PCS update released last month, click here. To read about the proposed ICD-10 changes released in March, click here.