AHA Coding Clinic® for ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS - 2017 Issue 4; New/Revised ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Codes
Blindness and Low Vision
The World Health Organization (WHO) uses blindness as a term that includes multiple categories of vision loss, while in the U.S. blindness generally means a lack of vision in both eyes. Categories of visual impairment, recognized by WHO and listed in ICD-10-CM, indicate distinct levels of impairment. In order to report the category of visual impairment as it relates specifically to each eye, new codes were created, which add a sixth character to represent the category of vision in the right eye, and a seventh character to represent the category of vision in the left eye, for the...
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Article Overview
This article provides a high-level overview of blindness and low vision terminology as used by the World Health Organization and reflected in ICD-10-CM. It is intended for coding and clinical documentation audiences who need to understand the broad structure of vision-impairment categories, the addition of eye-specific character positions, and the handling of unqualified or unspecified visual loss when documentation is incomplete.
Why This Topic Matters
Accurate documentation of vision impairment affects code selection, laterality capture, and the ability to distinguish severity patterns over time. This topic is important for coders, auditors, and clinicians working with ophthalmology or documentation that includes vision loss.
Article Sections
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Overview of blindness and visual impairment terminology
Introduces how blindness and visual impairment are described in broad terms and notes the role of ICD-10-CM in organizing these categories.
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Eye-specific subcategories and sub-subcategories
Summarizes the structure of newer vision-loss groupings that distinguish impairment by eye and by degree of usable vision.
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Unqualified and unspecified visual loss
Addresses how incomplete documentation is grouped into broader visual-loss categories when the level of impairment or laterality is not fully stated.
What You Will Learn
- How vision-loss categories are organized in ICD-10-CM
- How eye-specific laterality is represented in the documented grouping structure
- How incomplete documentation is categorized at a high level
- Why these categories are useful for tracking vision-loss progression
Who Should Read This
- Medical coders
- Coding auditors
- Clinical documentation specialists
- Ophthalmology staff
- Revenue cycle professionals
Codes Discussed
Code Ranges Discussed
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