Coding for Acute & Chronic Renal Failure
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) revised diagnosis codes for patients with renal disease, including patients with acute and chronic renal failure in 2005. Renal failure is the end stage of renal disease and patients with renal failure are managed differently. Once a patient reaches end stage renal failure, his options for treatment are limited to dialysis or transplantation.
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NCHS Updates Medical Codes
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NCHS is the nation's principal health statistics agency. NCHS works with the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for the Family of International Classifications of North America. It coordinates all official disease classification business in the United States concerning the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). It compiles statistical information to guide actions and policies to improve the health of people.
Renal Disease Codes
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The ICD-9-CM is updated annually. The ICD supports international comparability in the collection, processing, classification and presentation of mortality statistics. The updated codes for renal disease are part of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). ICD-9-CM codes are developed from information culled from morbidity, inpatient and outpatient records, physician offices and NCHS surveys.
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ICD-9-CM Codes Updated to Include Renal Staging System
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Renal disease has five stages. Because the National Kidney Foundation developed a five-part staging system for renal disease in 2002, the ICD-9-CM codes needed to be updated to include the new staging system.
Renal disease is now classified into five distinct stages: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Stage 1, CKD Stage 2, CKD Stage 3, CKD Stage 4 and CKD Stage 5. CKD Stage 5 is also known as renal failure.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, the updated codes resulted from collaboration between the NCHS, the Renal Physicians Association and the NKF itself.
Benefits to Using New Codes
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The renal failure stage has two codes--585.5 and 585.6. The NCHS used these stages to revise the ICD-9-CM codes for renal disease to make it easier for physicians to bill, keep data and plan treatment, based on stage of renal disease. Before 2005, the majority of renal disease patients were put into the chronic renal failure category. The vast majority of patients with renal disease do not have renal failure. The new codes allow medical professionals to clearly note the stage of renal disease and diagnose and treat accordingly.
Nationwide Campaign To Promote Codes
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More than 26 million Americans--one in nine adults--have renal disease and millions more people are at increased risk for the disease. Other benefits to revising the ICD-9-CM codes include earlier treatment of renal disease. Earlier treatment allows for more time for treatment, slowing kidney function decline and prevents patients from going into renal failure.
After the updated codes were launched, the NKF launched a nationwide campaign to encourage clinicians to look for renal disease in patients who have it, classify renal disease into a stage, code renal disease based on these new, updated codes and treat the patient accordingly.
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