Report fifth digit to distinguish hemolysis, other transfusion reactions
Stating 'ABO (or Rh) incompatibility reaction won't be enough for accurate diagnosis coding beginning October 1. You will need to add information about whether the reaction is an acute or delayed hemolytic reaction or owing to some other type of incompatibility.
The reason: ICD 9 codes 2011 will render the following codes invalid and require you to use one of the new codes.
Note type and timing for the right code choice
Hemolysis, involving red blood cell rupture is just one type of transfusion reaction that might take place owing to an incompatibility between the donor and recipient blood.
Tip to remember: Remember that 'other' means the documentation spells out some specific condition that is not described be a more detailed ICD-9 code whereas "unspecified" means that the documentation doesn't explicitly define the condition.
The just-in codes also add more specificity to reporting hemolytic reaction's timing.
Acute: An acute hemolytic transfusion reaction (AHTR) covers accelerated destruction of red blood cells less than 24 hours after transfusion.
Delayed: Contrary to acute, delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction (DHTR) refers to "accelerated destruction of red blood cells which normally manifests 24 hours to 28 days ( a month) after a transfusion. Proposed delayed codes include 999.63, 999.73, 999.78, and 999.85.
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