Get to Know Those ICD-10 Codes to Report Crohn's Disease

Get to Know Those ICD-10 Codes to Report Crohn's Disease Crohn's disease causes inflammation of the digestive system. This article lists the ICD-10 codes for reporting this condition.

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Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Inflammation caused by Crohn's disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people. The disease most commonly occurs in the small intestine and the colon. In some people, the condition affects only the last segment of the small intestine (ileum) whereas in others it is confined to the colon (part of the large intestine). However, it can easily spread or affect any other part of your gastrointestinal tract, from your mouth to your anus. The inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease often spreads deep in to the layers of the affected bowel tissue causing severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, malnutrition and weight loss. While there is no known specific cure for inflammatory bowel disease, therapies can greatly reduce the intensity of symptoms to a great extent. If left untreated, the condition can be both painful and debilitating, and lead to life-threatening complications. Gastroenterology medical billing and coding is a real challenge due to many code choices and rules related

to

reporting

this

inflammatory

bowel

disease.

Gastroenterologists and other physicians treating this condition need to be familiar with the related ICD-10 codes. Outsourcing medical coding to an experienced service provider is a reliable strategy to ensure accurate coding.

Reports suggest that Crohn's disease affects about 780,000 people in the United States. The condition affects both men and women equally and can occur at any time, usually in the age range of 15-35 years. It is estimated that up to 20 percent of people with Crohn’s have a blood

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relative who has inflammatory bowel disease. The exact cause of this disease remains unknown. A wide range of factors such as diet, stress, heredity, malfunctioning immune system, cigarette smoking and usage of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications happen to play an active role in its development.

What Are the Common Symptoms?

Generally, the symptoms of this bowel disease start in childhood or early adulthood and can range from mild to severe. Also, there may be times when people experience no signs and symptoms (remission).

Most common symptoms include –  Reduced appetite and weight loss  Mouth sores  Fever  Fatigue  Diarrhea  Blood in your stool  Abdominal pain and cramping  Pain or drainage near or around the anus due to inflammation from a tunnel into the skin (fistula)  Feeling as if your bowels aren’t empty after a bowel movement  Feeling a frequent need for bowel movement The symptoms may become more severe as the disease progresses.

People with severe Crohns disease may experience several additional symptoms like - inflammation of skin, eyes and joints, delayed growth or sexual development, and inflammation of the liver or bile ducts.

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Early detection and diagnosis can help avoid severe complications such as anal fissure, ulcers, chronic bowel obstruction, fistula, colon cancer and other health problems associated with the condition.

Treating Crohn’s Disease – Know the Options There is no single test to diagnose Crohn's disease. Physicians are likely to use a combination of techniques to help confirm a diagnosis of the condition. Various types of blood tests like fecal occult blood test and tests for anemia or infection will be done. In addition, several diagnostic imaging tests– Colonoscopy, Computerized tomography (CT), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Capsule endoscopy and Balloon-assisted enteroscopy--may be conducted to confirm the symptoms.

There is currently no specific cure for Crohn’s disease and no single treatment that effectively works for everyone. A wide range of treatment modalities are incorporated to help reduce the inflammation and other related symptoms of the condition. Initial treatment starts with

anti-inflammatory

prednisone sulfasalazine

and

drugs

such

as

budesonide)

and

Oral

(Azulfidine).

Immune

Corticosteroids

(such

5-aminosalicylates

system

suppressors

like

as like –

Azathioprine and mercaptopurine, Methotrexate (Trexall), Natalizumab (Tysabri) and vedolizumab (Entyvio) also help reduce inflammation.

Other medications include antibiotics like ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and metronidazole (Flagyl), pain relievers (like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), naproxen sodium), iron supplements, Vitamin B-12 shots, and Calcium and vitamin D supplements. In addition, physicians will also

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recommend a nutrition therapy (a special diet given via a feeding tube or nutrients injected into a vein) and combine it with other medications to reduce inflammation. If any of the above treatment modalities (including lifestyle changes, diet and medications) do not relieve your signs and symptoms, physicians may recommend surgery as a last option.

Gastroenterologists and other specialists providing treatment for Crohn’s disease need to be adequately reimbursed for their services.

For this, the diagnosis must be carefully documented using the appropriate medical codes. Medical billing and coding services offered by reliable providers can help physicians use the correct codes for their medical billing purposes.

ICD-10 codes for Crohn’s Disease K50 - Crohn's disease [regional enteritis] K50.0 - Crohn's disease of small intestine  K50.00

-

Crohn's

disease

of

small

intestine,

without

complications K50.01 - Crohn's disease of small intestine with complications  K50.011 - Crohn's disease of small intestine with rectal bleeding  K50.012 - Crohn's disease of small intestine with intestinal obstruction  K50.013 - Crohn's disease of small intestine with fistula  K50.014 - Crohn's disease of small intestine with abscess  K50.018

-

Crohn's

disease

of

small

intestine

with

other

complication

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 K50.019 - Crohn's disease of small intestine with unspecified complications K50.1 - Crohn's disease of large intestine  K50.10

-

Crohn's

disease

of

large

intestine,

without

complications K50.11 - Crohn's disease of large intestine with complications  K50.111 - Crohn's disease of large intestine with rectal bleeding  K50.112 - Crohn's disease of large intestine with intestinal obstruction  K50.113 - Crohn's disease of large intestine with fistula  K50.114 - Crohn's disease of large intestine with abscess  K50.118

-

Crohn's

disease

of

large

intestine

with

other

complication  K50.119 - Crohn's disease of large intestine with unspecified complications K50.8 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine  K50.80 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine, without complications K50.81 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine with complications  K50.811 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine with rectal bleeding  K50.812 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine with intestinal obstruction

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 K50.813 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine with fistula  K50.814 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine with abscess  K50.818 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine with other complication  K50.819 - Crohn's disease of both small and large intestine with unspecified complications K50.9 - Crohn's disease, unspecified  K50.90 - Crohn's disease, unspecified, without complications K50.91 - Crohn's disease, unspecified, with complications  K50.911 - Crohn's disease, unspecified, with rectal bleeding  K50.912

-

Crohn's

disease,

unspecified,

with

intestinal

obstruction  K50.913 - Crohn's disease, unspecified, with fistula  K50.914 - Crohn's disease, unspecified, with abscess  K50.918 - Crohn's disease, unspecified, with other complication  K50.919

-

Crohn's

disease,

unspecified,

with

unspecified

complications Incorporating small but significant changes in your diet and lifestyle may help control Crohn’s disease symptoms and lengthen the time between flare-ups. Intake of certain foods and beverages can aggravate your signs and symptoms, especially during a flare-up. It is important to limit or stop consuming dairy food products, high fat spicy foods, caffeine and alcohol as these may make your signs and

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symptoms worse. In addition, practicing good exercise regime and reducing stress can reduce the severity of your symptoms and cut down flare-ups.

Medical coding for inflammatory bowel disease can be intricate.

However, outsourcing these tasks to a reliable and established medical billing and coding company (that provides the services of AAPC-certified coding specialists) can help healthcare practices with correct and timely medical billing and claims submission.

www.outsourcestrategies.com

918-221-7769