Coding Tip Corner - July 2023
On April 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its final decision with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to move to twice-a-year ICD-10 code updates: April 1 and the October 1 fiscal year update. How has your office implemented the changes?
The recent updates to the ICD-10 code system for 2023 include 1,176 new billable healthcare codes for several areas. Last month, we focused on social determinants of health (SDOH), an area that CMS is focusing on more than usual this year! Please remember to capture any changes on each visit. These can have a direct impact on a member’s health, and HTA can offer many resources/outlets for patients who may need a little outside help.
This month, we look at the Dementia ICD-10 codes. This is becoming a “growing health concern due to an aging baby boomer generation”1. The 2023 ICD-10 official guidelines read as follows:
“The ICD-10-CM classifies dementia (categories F01, F02, and F03) on the basis of the etiology and severity (unspecified, mild, moderate, or severe). Selection of the appropriate severity level requires the provider’s clinical judgment and codes should be assigned only on the basis of provider documentation (as defined in the Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting), unless otherwise instructed by the provider information about the severity of the dementia, assign the appropriate code for unspecified.
If a patient is admitted to an inpatient acute care hospital or other inpatient facility setting with dementia severity level and it progresses to a higher severity level, assign one code for the highest severity level reported during the stay.”
Codes exist for dementia with and without behavioral disturbances. There is a need for additional detail on other key associated disorders, particularly psychotic disorders, mood disorders, and anxiety.
Dementia codes range between F01.A3 -F03.C4, has the office been utilizing the updates: Below is a sample:
| ICD-10 code | Description |
| F01.A3 | Vascular dementia, mild, with mood disturbance |
| F01.A4 | Vascular dementia, mild, with anxiety |
| F01.B | Vascular dementia, moderate |
| F01.B0 | Vascular dementia, moderate, without behavioral disturbance, psychotic disturbance, mood disturbance, and anxiety |
| F03.911 | Unspecified dementia, unspecified severity, with agitation |
| F03.918 | Unspecified dementia, unspecified severity, with other behavioral disturbance |
1 https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/2023-icd10-code-updates