S82.044A (Nondisplaced comminuted fracture of right patella, initial encounter for closed fracture)
compared with
S82.044E (Nondisplaced comminuted fracture of right patella, subsequent encounter for open fracture type I or II with routine healing),
from the official CMS tabular data. S82.044A and S82.044E code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
Nondisplaced comminuted fracture of right patella, subsequent encounter for open fracture type I or II with routine healing
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. S82.044A and S82.044E 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)
S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)
Definition
Nondisplaced comminuted fracture of right patella, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S82.044A).
Nondisplaced comminuted fracture of right patella, subsequent encounter for open fracture type I or II with routine healing is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S82.044E).
7th character
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S82
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to all codes from category S82