S66.529A (Laceration of intrinsic muscle, fascia and tendon of unspecified finger at wrist and hand level, initial encounter)
compared with
S66.529D (Laceration of intrinsic muscle, fascia and tendon of unspecified finger at wrist and hand level, subsequent encounter),
from the official CMS tabular data. S66.529A and S66.529D code the same injury at a different phase of treatment. MedCoder-derived
Laceration of intrinsic muscle, fascia and tendon of unspecified finger at wrist and hand level, subsequent encounter
Same underlying diagnosis, different encounter phase.
The 7th character records the phase of care for the encounter being coded, so a single encounter takes one of these characters, not several. Review whether both phases belong on the same episode of care.
Source: ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a
Can these codes be reported together?
Same injury, other encounter phase. S66.529A and S66.529D code the same injury at a different phase of treatment, set by the 7th character.
The 7th character records the type of care given at the encounter being coded (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a), so one encounter takes one of these, not both.
S00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
S00-T88 — Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
Definition
Laceration of intrinsic muscle, fascia and tendon of unspecified finger at wrist and hand level, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S66.529A).
Laceration of intrinsic muscle, fascia and tendon of unspecified finger at wrist and hand level, subsequent encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S66.529D).
7th character
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S66
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S66