Do you know which health awareness events are occurring this month? Here is a list of national observances recognized in the month of January.
There are many ways to supplement your learning as a medical coding student. Familiarizing yourself with common diagnoses and diseases is a great way to help you understand ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries.
As a medical coding student, I have used multiple resources to supplement my courses. Such as watching YouTube videos, anatomy coloring books, crossword puzzles, and even coding national health observances occurring throughout the months.
National Health Observances (NHOs) help bring awareness and understanding about important health topics. This is a great way to learn about a range of minor to major diseases or concerns that are affecting lives every day.
This coding activity has increased my learning about anatomy and helped me understand how to search for main keywords.
To help supplement your learning, I am giving you a calendar of January health awareness events.
You are going to learn which health observances are occurring this month, the ICD-10-CM codes associated with each health topic, and a few fun facts.
This activity will help familiarize you with certain common diseases, the anatomy they are associated with and the instructional notes in the Tabular List.
Cervical Health Awareness Month
This nation-wide initiative endeavors to raise awareness about cervical cancer. During this month health organizations and groups are dedicated to prioritizing cervical health and offering resources to encourage women to have regular gynecological visits and screening tests. As well as providing information about stopping cervical cancer before it starts with the use of HPV vaccination. HPV, also known as Human papillomavirus is a common virus transmitted through sexual contact and is the leading cause of cervical cancer cases.
Anatomy
Cervical Cancer is cancer of the cervix. It is a malignant tumor that occurs in the cells of the cervix. The cervix is located at the lower end of the uterus and extends to the vagina. It is almost like a muscular tunnel that connects the uterus and vagina.
Alphabetic Index to Diseases
Now, if you search for Cancer as the main term in the Index it will direct you to the Table of Neoplasms.
Flip to the Table of Neoplasms and search for the main term cervix. This section of your manual categorizes neoplasms by Malignant Primary, Malignant Secondary, Ca In Situ, Uncertain Behavior, and Unspecified Behavior. From the Tabular list, we will take a look at each of these categories.
Tabular List
Glaucoma Awareness Month
Known as the "silent thief of sight", glaucoma affects over 60 million people worldwide. It is a disease that damages the optic nerve causing irreversible blindness. To combat the spread of this disease every January educational campaigns are launched to encourage routine and comprehensive eye exams.
Anatomy
Glaucoma is mainly caused by intraocular pressure. Intraocular pressure also known as IOP is the fluid pressure in your eye. If the pressure becomes too high it can cause damage to the optic nerve which will result in vision loss.
Alphabetic Index to Diseases
I LOVE easy main-term searches in the index. No guesswork! Just simply go to that main term and there is the code. To code glaucoma, simply flip through your index to that main term.
The easy ones have no subterms and have just a code next to the main term. And then there are those with a long list of subterms. This is definitely one of those with a seemingly never ending list. Reviewing this list the sub-terms are categorized by angle-closure, in (due to), secondary (to), and other specific conditions. The medical record or diagnosis will help you to choose the correct one. After selecting the appropriate code you must follow up in the Tabular list to ensure you are coding the highest specificity.
Tabular List
National Birth Defects Awareness Month
The theme for this year is "Healthy Communities, Healthy Babies". The aim is to raise awareness of preventable measures that should be taken during pregnancy and recognize the gaps in access to care for mother and child.
Anatomy
Birth defects are also known as congenital anomalies and they can be mild or life-threatening. A defect or anomaly can be any part of a baby's body. Some are visible like a cleft lip, cleft palate, limb defects, and malformations of the skull and face. Others are internal like congenital heart defects, chemical imbalances, and abnormalities of the parathyroid gland. These are just a few of the birth defects that are caused by genetics, environmental factors, complications, or drug exposure during pregnancies.
Alphabetic Index to Diseases
Let's look up a few common birth defects in the Alphabetic index.
- Spina bifida
- Main term: Spina
- Code: Spina bifida (aperta) Q05.9
- Clubfoot
- Main term: Clubfoot
- Code: Clubfoot (congenital) Q66.89
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Main term: Syndrome
- Code: fetal, alcohol (dysmorphic) Q86.0
Tabular List
Thyroid Awareness Month
As with most health awareness campaigns the goal is to educate and increase awareness of the disease. This is particularly very important for Thyroid Awareness month. Most people who have the disease are unaware of their condition. As a result, any thyroid disorders left untreated can lead to osteoporosis, heart disease, and even infertility.
Anatomy
Have you ever heard the saying, "Small but mighty"? Well, that is an accurate description of the thyroid. The thyroid has the delicate shape of a butterfly but it truly is a powerhouse.
The thyroid is a gland located in the neck below the Adam's Apple. As part of the endocrine system, the thyroid makes and secretes hormones that control the way our bodies uses energy.
Alphabetic Index to Diseases
To begin our search in the Alphabetic Index, we will look at the two main types of thyroid disease which are hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.
Hyperthyroidism is the condition of an overactive thyroid. It occurs when the thyroid makes too much of the thyroxine hormone. As a result, your metabolism will increase, may experience significant weight loss, anxiety, rapid, and irregular heartbeat. Besides an overactive thyroid, do you know of any other conditions that can cause hyperthyroidism? If so, comment below.
Hypothyroidism is on the other end of the spectrum. This condition is a deficiency of the thyroid hormone. It is also known as an underactive thyroid. Hypothyroidism symptoms may include muscle weakness, slowed heart rate, weight gain, and lethargy. There are several causes for hypothyroidism, such as iodine deficiency and thyroiditis. Comment below if you know the name of the hereditary disease that also causes this condition.
Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism are certainly easily searchable terms. Flipping to hyperthyroidism you will see that some of the sub-terms are categorized by with, due to, neonatal, or specified. Hypothyroidism has a bit more sub-terms than its counterpart. Mainly they are options of congenital, due to, iodine-deficiency, postsurgical, and a few others.
Other index searches for the thyroid are the main-terms Disorder or Disease and the sub-term thyroid. Let's review the Tabular List for hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
Tabular List
World Leprosy Day
Did you know that leprosy was renamed Hansen's Disease? Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen, a Norwegian scientist, discovered the cause of leprosy in 1873. Hansen's disease is a curable infectious disease that causes skin lesions and nerve damage.
However, there is a stigma and many myths regarding this disease, but the purpose of World Leprosy Day is to remove that stigma and offer facts over fiction.
Anatomy
Leprosy affects the skin, eyes, and peripheral nervous system. If the disease progresses without treatment it can cause paralysis, non-healing ulcers, and blindness.
Alphabetic Index to Diseases
Coding this disease is just a simple search for leprosy in the Alphabetic Index. But if you search for Hansen's disease in the index there is a notation that states see Leprosy. Pay careful attention to the sub-term with muscle disorder. Unfortunately, leprosy can cause muscle weakness & paralysis. If this is the case the bracketed codes indicate which muscle is affected. The notations will direct you to code leprosy first which is the underlying condition then the muscle disorder.
In the Tabular List the codes are categorized into the types of leprosy. They include indeterminate, tuberculoid, lepromatous, and borderline. Now, I understand indeterminate and borderline, but the other two types are not part of everyday vocabulary. It makes you wonder how you know which one to code. Well, the medical chart will provide that information, but it's also important for you to understand the meaning of these tongue twisters. So, let's get into it!
Tabular List
Can you name the other health awareness observances that occurs every year in January? If so, challenge yourself by naming and coding a condition or disease associated with that health topic. Post your answers in the comment section below. Good luck!
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