Codes, codes, and more codes: New FY 2024 ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS codes hit the encoder

June was a big month if you have anything to do with medical coding. Codes, codes, and more codes—both additions, deletions, and code title revisions.

On Friday June 16 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the FY 2024 ICD-10-CM (diagnosis) codes updates. That came hard on the heels of the release of the new ICD-10-PCS (procedure) codes the week prior.

You’ve got a little time to prepare for the changes as both sets of codes take effect Oct. 1, 2023. But don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. When new codes hit, any physician that self-codes will be unlikely to pick them due to unfamiliarity. And the new codes will require HIM/coding and CDI staff to recognize the associated documentation triggers and/or absences that might warrant a query or clarification before assigning.

The June 16 ICD-10-CM release includes 395 new codes, 25 deleted codes, and 13 revised code titles. What it didn’t include was an associated update to the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. This is expected at a later date.

But, the ICD-10-PCS codes did include new guidelines. See below.

In terms of highlights, space precludes too much analysis (we can’t cover hundreds of codes in this blog post). But we pulled out a couple interesting updates for you. Note that your best friend here is going to the file titled ICD-10CM_order_addenda_2024.txt, which lists all of the added/deleted/revised codes in a handy searchable file. You can find this in the first link below.

On to the highlights. We have:

A new sepsis code:

• A41.54 Sepsis due to Acinetobacter baumannii

A new code for myocardial infarction (MI):

• I21B, Myocardial infarction with coronary microvascular dysfunction

Two new hypertension codes:

• I1A: Other hypertension
• I1A0: Resistant hypertension

Two new codes for postpartum kidney failure:

• O9041: Hepatorenal syndrome following labor and delivery
• O9049: Other postpartum acute kidney failure

Three new codes for specified forms of pneumonia:

• J156: Pneumonia due to other Gram-negative bacteria
• J1561: Pneumonia due to Acinetobacter baumannii
• J1569: Pneumonia due to other Gram-negative bacteria

Five new codes to report Parkinson’s disease:

• G20.A1: Parkinson’s disease without dyskinesia, without mention of fluctuations
• G20.A2: Parkinson’s disease without dyskinesia, with fluctuations
• G20.B1: Parkinson’s disease with dyskinesia, without mention of fluctuations
• G20.B2: Parkinson’s disease with dyskinesia, with fluctuations
• G20.C: Parkinsonism, unspecified

Most of the diagnosis code additions (123) fall into the external causes of morbidity chapter (V00-Y99). While all codes are important to report, these are unlikely to rise to the level of a complication/comorbidity (CC) or Major CC classification. But, we are excited to see several new Z codes. These are critical to help gather data on the true cost of care and efficacy of treatment; treatments don’t work if patients or their caregivers don’t follow protocols and/or don’t have the financial resources to obtain drugs and other treatments, which is why it’s so important to report new codes like:

• Z91A41: Caregiver’s other noncompliance with patient’s medication regimen due to financial hardship
• Z91A51: Caregivers noncompliance with patient’s renal dialysis due to financial hardship

References and further reading

CMS, 2024 ICD-10-CM: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/icd-10/2024-icd-10-cm

ICD-10 Monitor: https://icd10monitor.medlearn.com/breaking-news-diagnosis-codes-for-2024-released/

CMS, 2024 ICD-10-PCS: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/icd-10/2024-icd-10-pcs

CMS, ICD-10-PCS Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting (2024 updates): https://www.cms.gov/files/document/2024-official-icd-10-pcs-coding-guidelines.pdf