Heart disease and heart conditions: Part I
Editor’s note: This is part one of four heart disease-related posts.
February has been designated as American Heart Month by the National Wellness Institute.
The terms heart disease and cardiovascular disease encompass several types of heart conditions, including heart attack, cardiac arrest, and congenital heart defects. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. Risk factors for heart disease include cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and alcohol use. Poor diet, lack of exercise, and excess body fat can also raise the risk of heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Coronary artery disease is the most common form of heart disease in the U.S. It is caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries, which limits the amount of blood reaching the heart. This can lead to chest discomfort, irregular heartbeat, and heart failure, according to the CDC.
Coronary artery disease – ICD-9-CM category 414.0x or ICD-10-CM I25.1x
When assigning codes in ICD-9-CM, the fifth digit identifies the affected vessel (e.g. native vessel or bypass graft). ICD-10-CM contains combination codes whereby the final digits identify not only whether the CAD is in a native or bypass vessel but also identifies the absence or presence of angina pectoris.
Editor’s note: To be continued in Part II.
About the Author: Shannon McCall. RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CEMC, CPC-I, CCDS
Director of coding and HIM at HCPro, Inc., currently serves as the Director of HIM and Coding for HCPro, Inc. She manages the instructors of the Certified Coder Boot Camps,® which cover physician and outpatient hospital coding and inpatient hospital facility coding. McCall is HCPro’s Revenue Cycle Institute lead coding expert, where she works with hospitals, medical practices, and other healthcare providers on a wide range of coding-related issues. McCall has extensive experience with coding for both physician and hospital services. She is recognized as an official ICD-10 educator through the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
