This page addresses follow-up questions and additional information pertinent to our webinar
Easing the Pain of Wound Care Coding - Procedure Coding.
** The coding information and guidance are valid at the time of publishing. Learners are encouraged to research
subsequent official guidance in the areas associated with the topic as they can change rapidly.
Q: You mentioned sending a query to determine if a debridement was excisional or nonexcisional. Any advice on how to phrase those queries?
A: Since there really is only 2 ways to debride something, I see no reason not to just ask if a debridement was excisional or nonexcisional. You can always add other and unknown to give the provider more options.
Q: What about the Wagner scale for ulcer severity? Is that coded?
A: This question comes up a lot! The Wagner scale is a diabetic foot ulcer grading scale that can be helpful to coders, but we don’t recommend it be used to report severity since it doesn’t follow the same severity scale as the codes in ICD-10.
Q: You mentioned physical therapists are now able to do debridements. Can we report those?
A: Unfortunately, that’s a question that you’ll need to bring to your compliance department. Remember, coders can only pull codes from the “healthcare practitioner legally accountable for establishing a patient’s diagnosis”.
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Terri Reid, CCS, CCS-P, CDIP, AHIMA-Approved ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainer
Senior Coding Quality Auditor
Terri comes to Haugen group with 25+ years of health information management experience in coding, auditing and education. She spent a number of years volunteering as an EMT and working in an Emergency Department before she transitioned into a career coding ED records. It wasn’t long before she was trained to code SDS and IP records eventually using her clinical background to help pioneer a concurrent query program at a level I trauma facility in the northeast. With the implementation of ICD-10, she helped develop coding protocols as well as provide education to physicians on the impact of their documentation.
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