tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2021 Issue Q4

Reader Questions: Understand the Low Back Pain Options

Question: How do I code acute or chronic lower back pain? Even with the new ICD-10 codes, it seems we can only document the pain and not its severity. Colorado Subscriber Answer: As you say, choices for documenting lower back do not specify pain severity. After Oct. 1, 2021, while you will have three new codes to report the pain — M54.50 (Low back pain, unspecified), M54.51 (Vertebrogenic low back pain), and M54.59 (Other low back pain) — none of these codes indicate whether the pain is acute or chronic. If your provider does notate the...

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