Question

Medical coding question: please post a 2 paragraph summary with a minimum of 5 sentences in each paragraph related to the general format of the ICD-10-CM manual.

Answer 1

ICD-10-CM is a seven-character, alphanumeric code. Each code begins with a letter, and that letter is followed by two numbers. The first three characters of ICD-10-CM are the “category.” The category describes the general type of injury or disease. The category is followed by a decimal point and the subcategory. This is followed by up to two subclassifications, which further explain the cause, manifestation, location, severity, and type of injury or disease. The last character is the extension.

The extension describes the type of encounter this is. That is, if this is the first time a healthcare provider has seen the patient for this condition/injury/disease, it’s listed as the “initial encounter.” Every encounter after the first is listed as a “subsequent encounter.” Patient visits related to the effects of a previous injury or disease are listed with the term “sequela.”The ICD-10-CM code manual is divided into three volumes. Volume I is the tabular index. Volume II is, again, the alphabetic index. Volume III lists procedure codes that are only used by hospitals