Reader Questions: Allow Clinicians to Make the Decision on Acute vs. Chronic
Question: I have heard varying opinions on what the exact duration of a chronic condition is and there’s not much direction in the ICD-10-CM guidelines. Can you explain when I should assign a code for an acute condition versus a chronic one?
Arkansas Subscriber
Answer: Generally speaking, an acute condition is one where symptoms appear suddenly and worsen rapidly, while a chronic condition is one that develops gradually and worsens over an extended period of time. However, there is a large degree of variation in the time a disease must be present for something to be referred to...
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