Coding Notes
FY 2012 ICD-10-PCS Updates
By Theresa Rihanek, RHIA, CCS
LIMITED UPDATES WERE made to ICD-10-PCS for fiscal year 2012 as set forth under the partial code freeze established by the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee. 1 The freeze is intended to aid the transition to the new code set by limiting updates for 2012 and 2013 to essential changes, such as those necessary to capture new technologies or diseases. Additions and deletions to ICD-10-PCS were made in tandem with updates made to ICD-9-CM procedure codes. Other addi- tions, revisions, or deletions were made in response to public request or to improve consistency within the classification. A return to regular code updates will occur on October 1, 2014, for ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS.
As with every code classification revision, it is vital for users to
review what is new. The 2012 fiscal year ICD-10-PCS tables are
available at www.cms.gov/ICD10/11b15_2012_ICD10PCS.asp.
New Qualifiers
In the medical and surgical section, the new qualifier vertical
was added in the table for the stomach body part. This was added in conjunction with the new procedure code for laparoscopic
vertical (sleeve) gastrectomy ( 48. 32) in ICD-9-CM.
A new qualifier, left atrial appendage, was added for the left
atrium body part to describe procedures performed on the left
atrial appendage in the medical and surgical section.
In the administration section, root operation introduction,
a new qualifier was inserted for anti-infective envelope in the
subcutaneous tissue body system. This qualifier specifies the
placement of an antimicrobial envelope around devices such as
pacemaker generators.
Device Value Updates
In response to public comment, the device value for internal fixation device present within the fusion root operation relative to
spinal joint body parts was deleted. This change also resulted in
revision of ICD-10-PCS Coding Guideline B3.10c. The guideline
no longer references internal fixation devices.
Laser interstitial thermal therapy modality qualifiers were
added in the radiation oncology section to capture respiratory,
breast, and prostate body part values.
Two new device classification maintenance standards were
established:
Device values are intended to capture detail regarding the de-
vice. Qualifier values are to be used to capture essential detail
about procedures that cannot be captured in the other charac-
ters. To remedy situations within ICD-10-PCS where device in-
formation was also being captured in the qualifier character, the
device values were updated.
