Normal foreskin to be coded as an abnormal - and billable - condition

ICD10data.com

How to make a disesease - and a "cure"

by Hugh Young

A forthcoming diagnostic code proposes to make a normal baby's foreskin a "disorder" and its treatment - circumcision - billable.

When a boy is born, his foreskin has usually not separated from his glans (head), and it commonly takes several years to separate, sometimes not until puberty.

ICD10Data.com Home > 2013 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Codes > Diseases of the genitourinary system N00-N99 > Diseases of male genital organs N40-N53 > Disorders of prepuce N47- > 2013 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code N47.0 Adherent prepuce, newborn N47.0 is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code that can be used to specify a diagnosis.     ICD-9-CM will be replaced by ICD-10-CM beginning October 1, 2014, therefore, N47.0 and all other ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes should only be used for training or planning purposes until then. ICD-10-CM N47.0 is part of Diagnostic Related Group(s) (MS-DRG v28.0): 727 Inflammation of the male reproductive system with mcc     728 Inflammation of the male reproductive system without mcc     795 Normal newborn     Convert ICD-10-CM N47.0 to ICD-9-CM The following ICD-10-CM Index entries contain back-references to ICD-10-CM N47.0: Adherent - see also Adhesions     prepuce, newborn N47.0

This seems to be an attempt to implement (by stealth?) the AAP Task Force on Circumcision's recommendation that non-therapeutic infant circumcision should regain Medicaid coverage, to stem the decline in unnecessary circumcisions.