News: CMS adopts ‘intellectual disability’ term for MS-DRG assignment

The MS-DRG 884, organic disturbances and mental retardation, received a request for a title change, in the 2017 IPPS proposed rule released by CMS, to organic disturbances and intellectual disability to reflect more recent terminology used to appropriately describe the condition.

“We agree with the requestor that the reference to the phrase ‘mental retardation’ should be changed to ‘intellectual disability,’ to reflect the current terminology used to describe the condition. Therefore, we are proposing to change the title of MS-DRG 884 as requested,” said CMS.

As CMS continues to refine the ICD-10 MS-DRGs for fiscal year 2018, the agency is requesting providers contact them regarding ICD-10-PCS codes that capture procedures that would not reasonably be performed. Comments should be sent to MSDRGClassificationChanges@cms.hhs.gov by December 7.

For more information on the rule, see CMS’ fact sheet. Comments on the 2017 IPPS proposed rule are due to CMS by June 16, and the agency expects to issue a final rule by August 1. Once finalized, changes will become effective October 1.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by JustCoding.