The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released proposed coding changes for fiscal year 2020 to begin this October. The changes will include 273 new codes, 21 deleted codes and 30 revised codes.
The changes are widespread among the body systems and include diseases, procedures, signs and symptoms, injuries, lab findings, etc. These new and revised codes will enable coders and clinical documentation improvement specialists to capture more details and hone in on specifics.
What does this mean for physicians?
Starting in October 2019, documentation of a variety of diagnoses and/or procedures you have been using may not be specific enough. You can expect more queries for further specificity on some diagnoses and/or procedures as we adjust to the new coding guidelines.