Extracts: ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee Meeting September 14, 2011 (Coding of CFS in ICD-10-CM)

Extracts from Diagnosis Agenda: ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee Meeting September 14, 2011 (Coding of CFS in ICD-10-CM)

Post #103 Shortlink: http://wp.me/pKrrB-1iB

You can download an Audio of the September 14 NCHS meeting here:  http://www.cms.gov/ICD9ProviderDiagnosticCodes/Downloads/091411_Meeting_Audio.zip

[Note this is a large Zipped file.  The section for discussions on CFS coding starts at 2 hours 27 minutes in from start and ends at 3 hours 02 minutes.]

Extracts from Diagnosis Agenda

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd9cm_maintenance.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd9/TopicpacketforSept2011a.pdf

Page 8

Partial Code Freeze for ICD-9-CM and ICD-10

The ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee will implement a partial freeze of the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 (ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS) codes prior to the implementation of ICD-10 on October 1, 2013. There was considerable support for this partial freeze. The partial freeze will be implemented as follows:

• The last regular, annual updates to both ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 code sets will be made on October 1, 2011.
• On October 1, 2012, there will be only limited code updates to both the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 code sets to capture new technologies and diseases as required by section 503(a) of Pub. L. 108-173.
• On October 1, 2013, there will be only limited code updates to ICD-10 code sets to capture new technologies and diagnoses as required by section 503(a) of Pub. L. 108-173. There will be no updates to ICD-9-CM, as it will no longer be used for reporting.
• On October 1, 2014, regular updates to ICD-10 will begin.

The ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee will continue to meet twice a year during the partial freeze. At these meetings, the public will be asked to comment on whether or not requests for new diagnosis or procedure codes should be created based on the criteria of the need to capture a new technology or disease. Any code requests that do not meet the criteria will be evaluated for implementation within ICD-10 on and after October 1, 2014 once the partial freeze has ended.

Codes discussed at the September 15 – 16, 2010 and March 9 – 10, 2011 ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting will be considered for implementation on October 1, 2011, the last regular updates for ICD-9-CM and ICD-10. Code requests discussed at the September 14 – 15, 2011 and additional meetings during the freeze will be evaluated for either the limited updates to capture new technologies and diseases during the freeze period or for implementation to ICD-10 on October 1, 2014. The public will be actively involved in discussing the merits of any such requests during the period of the partial freeze.

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ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee Meeting September 14, 2011

10 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

According to the Coalition 4 ME/CFS, US researchers have estimated that myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) strikes 1 to 4 million Americans. It is a devastating illness that is characterized by profound fatigue that is not improved by rest and is worsened by physical or mental activity, along with multi-system symptoms including pain, cognitive impairment, headaches, unrefreshing sleep and tender lymph nodes.

In ICD-9-CM, the code for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) (780.71, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) became effective October 1, 1998. The proposal to create a unique code was presented at the December 1997 ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance meeting and was based on a number of requests that stated that a unique code was needed because it was impossible to collect meaningful data about the frequency of diagnosis as well as the utilization of medical services. Placement of CFS within Chapter 16 in ICD-9-CM at that time reflected that an underlying cause had not yet been determined.

The cause or causes of CFS remain unknown, despite a vigorous search. While a single cause for CFS may yet be identified, another possibility is that CFS represents a common endpoint of disease resulting from multiple causes. Conditions that have been proposed to trigger the development of CFS include infections, traumatic conditions, immune dysfunction, stress, and toxins.

Currently there are several case definitions in use, some separating CFS from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and others merging the two conditions together. The most widely used are the 1994 case definition, the Canadian and the Oxford definitions. A new definition of ME has been recently published to emphasize recent research and clinical experience that strongly point to widespread inflammation and multisystemic neuropathology. While there is no consensus on case definition, there is consensus that this is a serious syndrome and complex syndrome, and it is likely that there are multiple subgroups. Changes in immune, CNS and autonomic nervous system can be identified, but no tests have sufficient sensitivity and specificity to serve as a diagnostic test for CFS.

ICD-10 was approved by the International Conference for the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases in 1989 and adopted by the 43rd World Health Assembly in 1990. In ICD-10 WHO created code G93.3, Postviral fatigue syndrome and indexed chronic fatigue syndrome to this code. In ICD-10-CM chronic fatigue syndrome NOS (that is not specified as being due to a past viral infection) was added to ICD-10-CM in Chapter 18 at R53.82, Chronic fatigue, unspecified. ICD-10-CM retained code G93.3 to allow the differentiation of cases of fatigue syndrome where the physician has determined the cause as being due to a past viral infection from cases where the physician has not established a post viral link. It should be noted that including chronic fatigue syndrome NOS at code G93.3 would make it difficult to disaggregate cases that are now distinguishable through the use of two separate codes.

The Coalition 4 ME/CFS has submitted a proposal asking that chronic fatigue syndrome be deleted as an inclusion term under code R53.82 and that the term be added as an inclusion term under code G93.3.

The Coalition 4 ME/CFS is also requesting that their proposal be considered for October 1, 2012 so that the change occurs prior to the October 1, 2013 implementation date of ICD-10-CM even though the condition is not a new disease.

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Ed: Note that Option 1 (Proposal by the Coalition4ME/CFS) does not display the term Benign myalgic encephalomyelitis under G93.3 Postviral fatigue syndrome. This is because no change to the placement of this term is being requested by the Coalition4ME/CFS, that is, no request to Add, Delete or Revise the term is being requested.

[Extract ends]

Ed: Note that discussion of whether class 1 excludes were more appropriate than class 2 excludes took place at the meeting.

ICD: Use of Excludes1 or Excludes2

https://www.cms.gov/ICD10/Downloads/6_I10tab2010.pdf

ICD-10-CM TABULAR LIST of DISEASES and INJURIES

Instructional Notations

[…]

Excludes Notes

The ICD-10-CM has two types of excludes notes. Each note has a different definition for use but they are both similar in that they indicate that codes excluded from each other are independent of each other.

Excludes1

A type 1 Excludes note is a pure excludes. It means “NOT CODED HERE!” An Excludes1 note indicates that the code excluded should never be used at the same time as the code above the Excludes1 note. An Excludes1 is for used for when two conditions cannot occur together, such as a congenital form versus an acquired form of the same condition.

Excludes2

A type 2 excludes note represents “Not included here”. An excludes2 note indicates that the condition excluded is not part of the condition it is excluded from but a patient may have both conditions at the same time. When an Excludes2 note appears under a code it is acceptable to use both the code and the excluded code together.

Related material:

1] Full NCHS meeting Proposals document:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd9/TopicpacketforSept2011a.pdf

2] Post: Coding CFS in ICD-10-CM: CFSAC and the Coalition4ME/CFS initiative

3] Post: Extracts: ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee Meeting September 14, 2011 (Coding of CFS in ICD-10-CM)