Q&A: Querying uncertain diagnoses

by Laurie Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CCDS-O, CDIP, CRC

I have spent the last two days deeply immersed in the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule. That means 2,144 pages of regulatory “gobbly gook.” I have taken notes about new DRGs, new codes, deletions in codes, OR and non-OR procedures, etc., that I don’t plan to get into the details of today. There weren’t any huge changes, nothing groundbreaking or completely surprising.

To be honest, I do not enjoy this annual dive into the minds of CMS, as it always seems so detached from the patient in the bed or the caregivers working to meet their needs. But this year was different in that regard. There was a constant theme woven throughout those 2,000 pages that was first mentioned on page 22. The Z59.0- codes related to homelessness were changed from a non-CC to a complication or comorbidity (CC) and that’s exciting to me.