S89.101A (Unspecified physeal fracture of lower end of right tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture)
compared with
S89.101K (Unspecified physeal fracture of lower end of right tibia, subsequent encounter for fracture with nonunion),
from the official CMS tabular data. S89.101A and S89.101K code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
Unspecified physeal fracture of lower end of right tibia, subsequent encounter for fracture with nonunion
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. S89.101A and S89.101K 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
Unspecified physeal fracture of lower end of right tibia, initial encounter for closed fracture is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S89.101A).
Unspecified physeal fracture of lower end of right tibia, subsequent encounter for fracture with nonunion is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (S89.101K).
7th character
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from subcategories S89.0, S89.1, S89.2, and S89.3
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from subcategories S89.0, S89.1, S89.2, and S89.3