Are You Aware?

Of Arthritis Awareness
Month, That Is
By Susan Dooley

The merry month of May its time for the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, the first two legs of
horse racings Triple Crown. Its time for May Day. And of course we cant forget Cinco de Mayo! But
arthritis?
Yes, May is Arthritis Awareness Month in the United States, focusing on motivating people to get up,
move, and raise funds for arthritis research, support, and advocacy.
According to the Arthritis Foundation, each May arthritis advocates observe National Arthritis
Awareness Month with education, outreach, and arthritis walks to promote both fundraising and fitness.
The Foundation estimates that 1 in 5 people older than 18 have doctor-diagnosed arthritis a total of
50 million adults. And children arent immune from arthritis 300,000 babies and children have
arthritis or another rheumatic condition, meaning that 1 in 250 children have this disease. Arthritis is the
number 1 cause of disability in the United States.

The Coding Institute LLC, 2222 Sedwick Road, Durham, NC 27713, Eenterprise Contact: Sam Nair, Direct: 704 303 8150,
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The Financial Cost of Arthritis

Arthritis, along with other nontraumatic joint disorders, is one of the five most costly conditions among
adults aged 18 and older. Arthritis accounts for $156 billion a year in lost wages and medical expenses,
including 44 million outpatient visits and about 1 million hospitalizations.

Arthritis A Condition for All Ages

Many think of arthritis as affecting middle aged and older people, but two-thirds of arthritis sufferers
are younger than age 65, including about 300,000 children. In fact, even infants as young as a year old
can get systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, the most common chronic rheumatologic disease in
children.

Types of Arthritis
The Arthritis Foundations website lists more than 100 types of arthritis, ranging from adult-onset Stills
disease to Wegeners granulomatosis. However, the types of arthritis most of us are most familiar with
are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis Wearing Out Bones and Joints

With osteoarthritis, the bodys shock absorbing cartilage, that slippery plastic-like material that covers
the ends of bones, gradually breaks down and wears out. Osteoarthritis most often happens with age,
but joint injuries or obesity also cause this condition. Weightbearing joints like the knees, hips, feet, and
spine are most commonly affected, causing the affected joints to stiffen and hurt. The positive thing
about osteoarthritis? It doesnt cause you to feel sick and weak the way that other types of arthritis can.

Rheumatoid Arthritis An Autoimmune Disease

With autoimmune diseases, the bodys own immune system attacks itself, especially cartilage and other
connective tissue. This leads to inflammation, causing severe joint damage without treatment. About a
fifth of people with rheumatoid arthritis also get rheumatoid nodules, which are lumps that form over
joint areas receiving pressure, like knuckles and heels. Rheumatoid arthritis usually affects multiple
joints, causing swelling, fatigue, and weight loss. RA can affect other parts of the body, too, including
eyes, lungs, and heart.

The Coding Institute LLC, 2222 Sedwick Road, Durham, NC 27713, Eenterprise Contact: Sam Nair, Direct: 704 303 8150,
shyamn@codinginstitute.com

Reporting Arthritis Diagnoses With ICD-10

Youll find your osteoarthritis choices in the Arthropathies section of the musculoskeletal and connective
tissue disease chapter. M15 through M19 cover osteoarthritis conditions, starting with M15.0 (Primary
generalized [osteo]arthritis). As always with ICD-10, youll want to choose the most specific code you
can to match your clinicians documentation. For example, for a patient who develops one-sided knee
arthritis after a twisting injury to the right leg years before, youd report M17.31 (Unilateral posttraumatic osteoarthritis, right knee).
To report rheumatoid arthritis codes, youll look for M05 through M14 in the Inflammatory
Polyarthropathies section of the musculoskeletal chapter. Much as with the osteoarthritis codes, for
rheumatoid arthritis youll need to report as specific a code as your clinicians documentation allows. For
example, adult-onset Stills disease, which we mentioned earlier, is reported with M06.1. This condition
is rare and of unknown cause, but it is thought to be triggered by a bacterial or viral infection. And if
your provider documents that the patient has rheumatoid arthritis in more than one area, such as the
right hand and the left knee, youd report M06.09 (Rheumatoid arthritis without rheumatoid factor,
multiple sites)

What About You?

When ICD-10 came in, orthopedics specialists saw the biggest change in their daily coding. How about
you? Are you confident coding your ortho procedures in I-10? Write to us.

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Contact Us:
Name: Sam Nair
Title: Associate Director Enterprise Practice
Email: shyamn@codinginstitute.com
Direct: 704 303 8150

Desk: 866 228 9252, Ext: 4813

The Coding Institute LLC, 2222 Sedwick Road, Durham, NC 27713
The Coding Institute LLC, 2222 Sedwick Road, Durham, NC 27713, Eenterprise Contact: Sam Nair, Direct: 704 303 8150,
shyamn@codinginstitute.com