New diagnostic codes related to behavioral health conditions have gone into effect via the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) effective as of October 1, 2022. These updated codes expand upon and specify existing categories of behavioral health diagnoses already present in the ICD-10. Let’s have a look at the ICD-10 2023 Updates.
These updates will give providers the tools to more exactly diagnose the specifics of an individual patient’s situation.
For example, 87 additional codes will be added for dementia. Here are a few of the codes specific to vascular dementia that will allow healthcare providers to capture more nuance in diagnosing the severity of vascular dementia for a specific patient:
- A3 indicates mild vascular dementia with mood disturbance
- A4 indicates mild vascular dementia with anxiety
- B indicates moderate vascular dementia
- B0 indicates moderate vascular dementia that does not include behavioral disturbance, psychotic disturbance, mood disturbance, or anxiety
ICD-10-CM will also include a new code for prolonged grief disorder. The APA describes prolonged grief disorder as “persistent grief [that] is disabling and affects every-day functioning in a way that typical grieving does not.”
Code F43.81 will signify this disorder. Prolonged grief disorder also appears in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revised (DSM-5-TR).
Charting the ICD-10 2023 Updates
This chart illustrates just a few of the new codes that will pertain to behavioral health as of April 1, 2023.
| F01.A3 | Vascular dementia, mild, with mood disturbance |
| F01.A4 | Vascular dementia, mild, with anxiety |
| F01.B | Vascular dementia, moderate |
| F01.B0 | Vascular dementia, moderate, without behavioral disturbance, psychotic disturbance, mood disturbance, and anxiety |
| F03.911 | Unspecified dementia, unspecified severity, with agitation |
| F03.918 | Unspecified dementia, unspecified severity, with other behavioral disturbance |
| F43.81 | Prolonged grief disorder |
For more information on ICD-10 codes, check out ICD-10 Codes for Depression – F32.0–F33.3, ICD-10 Code for Anxiety, Unspecified – F41.9, ICD-10 Code for Altered Mental Status, Unspecified – R41.82, and ICD-10 Code for Suicidal Ideation – R45.851.
How to Enter Codes in Valant
Valant’s 3-step coding process helps providers enter diagnostic information quickly, easily, and with accuracy.
- In the patient chart, navigate to the Diagnosis tab and click “New.”
- Search for codes in the Code/Description field, and select the appropriate code. Searches require at least three characters and can be filtered to include just DSM-5 codes when you click the “Show DSM-5 Diagnoses Only” box.
- When you’ve selected the correct code, hit Save.
If You’re Not Using Valant
Your process for searching and selecting diagnostic codes may be different if you’re using an EHR solution other than Valant, but obviously, the correlation of codes with specific diagnoses will remain the same. We recommend bookmarking this page for reference.
If you’d like to see how Valant could revolutionize your EHR experience, schedule your free, personalized demo today.
References / Sources:
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/prolonged-grief-disorder
