Get to know ICD-10-PCS' new technology codes

 

The 2016 ICD-10-PCS code set includes a new section: New Technology. Placed after the Substance Abuse Treatments section, these tables enable us to classify and report the use of innovative techniques not currently reportable with this level of specificity.

 

Building the code to be reported from this new section will follow the same steps for coding from any other section. However, you will need to learn a few new terms. Let’s go through each character position and their options.

 

Every ICD-10-PCS code has seven characters, and each character position has a meaning. While all of these codes have the same number of characters, each section uses each character position differently.

Let’s review the meanings for the New Technology section characters. Each character position is followed by the meaning of the character:

You might have noticed that these are the same meanings as for characters in the Medical and Surgical section.

 

The codes reported from the New Technology section (X) are used to identify a specific procedure. They are not to be used to add detail or information about a procedure reported from another section, nor do they require any additional codes to supplement their meaning. They are complete in and of themselves to explain what was provided to the patient.

 

For reference, you might want to review the 2016 ICD-10-PCS Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, D1, New Technology Section, General Guidelines.

 

Currently, in this new section, there are only three body systems from which to choose:

 

The options are limited for the choice of this character, as well:

Extirpation is a procedure where the physician is cutting out or taking out solid matter from a body part.

Monitoring is described in ICD-10-PCS as the determination, repeatedly over a period of time, of the levels of a physiological or a physical function.

 

Introduction is the process of putting in, or on, a substance for therapeutic, diagnostic, nutritional, physiological or prophylactic purposes. Blood and blood products are excluded.

The options for the body part that is the objective of this procedure are also limited in number. For the cardiovascular system, coders can report:

For body parts representing joints, coders can report:

For anatomical regions, coders have the following options:

 

The character position for reporting the approach is also very straightforward:

An open approach is one that uses cutting through the skin or mucous membrane and any other body layers necessary to expose the site of the procedure.

 

A percutaneous approach is described by ICD-10-PCS as entry, by puncture or minor incision, of instrumentation through the skin or mucous membrane and any other body layers necessary to reach the site of the procedure

 

The devices described in this column’s options are new and different than those most of us have encountered:

This is used for the treatment of patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

 

This is provided for the treatment of adult patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections and complicated urinary tract infections including pyelonephritis caused by designated susceptible bacteria, including certain Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

 

Idarucizumab is an antibody fragment that was developed to reverse the anticoagulant effects of dabigatran (Pradaxa^®).

 

Intraoperative sensors are a disposable tibial insert used to aid orthopedic surgeons in placing prosthetic joint components during knee replacement surgery.

 

This is used for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis and treatment of invasive mucormycosis in patients 18 years and older.

 

Orbital atherectomy is used to treat patients with severely calcified coronary lesions as well as symptomatic peripheral arterial disease within the major and branch arteries of the leg. The FDA also cleared the orbital atherectomy system to treat stenosis in synthetic arteriovenous shunts that are often used to provide vascular access for dialysis patients.

 

For this year, the first reporting of these procedures, the character will be the number 1. Each year, this character will change as new codes are added to this specific section. So, for 2016, the seventh character will be:

The next year that innovations are approved and added to the code set, they will be identified with a qualifier of 2. This will continue each year, as new details are placed into the code set.

 

Examples of codes reported with New Technology codes include: