Diagnosis coding corner: Look within for new ICD-10-CM guidelines on ‘with’ and ‘in’

Why This Topic Matters

The guideline updates affect how coders interpret documentation, apply conventions, and choose among related diagnosis categories. Keeping current with these changes helps support more accurate ICD-10-CM reporting and alignment with official coding guidance.

Article Sections

1. General ICD-10-CM guideline updates

   Introduces broad changes in the FY 2018 ICD-10-CM Official Coding Guidelines and explains that some updates affect long-standing conventions. It also frames the article as a review of several chapter-level revisions.

2. Chapter-specific guideline changes

   Summarizes selected revisions affecting several ICD-10-CM chapters, including conventions, chronic conditions, substance use, radiation therapy, myocardial infarction, chronic ulcers, fractures, pregnancy-related coding, and Z code lists.