ICD-10-CM Laterality Policy Update
July 8, 2022Excellus BlueCross BlueShield will implement two claim edits associated with laterality diagnosis coding effective September 1, 2022.
According to ICD-10-CM Manual guidelines, some diagnosis codes indicate laterality, specifying whether the condition occurs on the left or right, or is bilateral.
One of the unique attributes of the ICD-10-CM code set is that laterality is built into code descriptions. Some ICD-10-CM codes specify whether the condition occurs on the left or right or is bilateral. If no bilateral code is provided and the condition is bilateral, then codes for both left and right should be assigned. If the side is not identified in the medical record, then the unspecified code should be assigned.
Source: https://provider.excellusbcbs.com/resources/news/archive