tci Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement - 2005 Issue 23

PHYSICIANS: Bariatric Surgery Benefits From New BMI Codes

... but most doctors don't list body mass index on patient's charts.Physicians' offices having trouble justifying gastric-bypass or other bariatric surgery to carriers now have some relief in the form of the new weight-related ICD-9 diagnosis codes. Starting Oct. 1, the ICD-9 diagnosis code set will include a code for "overweight" (278.02) and 18 new codes for assigning adult body mass index (BMI). "Those will be very helpful," says Lisa Frye, coder with North Carolina's Hickory Surgical Clinic, which performs bariatric surgeries and other procedures.Not only will the new codes be helpful in providing the patient's...

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