Coding Diabetic Cataracts
Published on
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Did you know?
Did you know that coding advice regarding Diabetes and Cataracts has changed?
Why it matters.
You may not be capturing the most accurate severity of illness of the patient.
What can I do?
Read the following Coding Clinics: September-October 1985, page 11 and 4th Quarter 2016, page 142.
Advice from 1985 stated that Diabetic Cataracts are rare, but may appear in Type 1 Diabetics. Simply put, we were advised that most cataracts occurring in a diabetic patient were not coded as a diabetic complication.
Advice from 2016 now states that diabetes and cataracts should be coded as related conditions as they are not rare and are a major cause of eye sight issues in diabetics. The Coding Clinic advice from 1985 was revised because more is known about cataracts and that the occurrence in diabetic patients was found to be higher and occurring at younger ages than nondiabetics.
Article Author: Anita Meyers, RHIT, CCS
Anita Meyers, RHIT, CCS, is an Inpatient Coding Professional at Medical Management Plus. Anita has over twenty-six years of experience in inpatient and outpatient coding including 17 years of work at AQAF reviewing inpatient and outpatient records from Alabama hospitals. In addition to reviewing records she was the team leader in Beneficiary Services where she participated in case review activities, received and processed beneficiary complaints and handled fee-for-service denials for home health, hospice and skilled nursing facility services. Prior to joining the MMP team, Anita left AQAF to become an inpatient contract coder and worked at various hospitals in central Alabama. In her current position, Anita is an integral part of the Inpatient Services at Medical Management Plus.
