Reader Question: Know Definitions of ‘Chronic’ May Vary
Question: When should I code for an acute form of a condition as opposed to a chronic form? I can’t find any clarification in ICD-10, but I seem to remember that anything under four weeks is regarded as acute and anything over four weeks would be coded as chronic? Is this true?
SuperCoder Subscriber
Answer: You are correct in saying that there is no guideline in ICD-10 that defines a condition as acute or chronic based on a timeframe. Guideline B.8 (Acute and Chronic Conditions) only tells you to code the acute (or subacute) condition first in...
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