In January 2020, WHO established a new ICD-10 code, U07.1 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease. The organization acknowledged that the disease name was likely to change, which it later did to COVID-19.

Consequently, the CDC announced the creation of ICD-10-CM code U07.1 COVID-19, which was effective April 1, 2020. ICD-10-CM is the United States’ clinical modification of ICD-10. The code sets are not identical, and ICD-10-CM is the code set U.S. providers should use for third-party payer claims.

This coding news came from the CDC because the CDC National Center for Health Statistics is the federal agency responsible for use of ICD-10 in the U.S. The agency is one of the four Cooperating Parties for ICD-10-CM, along with CMS, the American Hospital Association, and the American Health Information Management Association.

The original plan was for ICD-10-CM code U07.1 to have an effective date of Oct. 1, 2020, but the CDC announced a change to April 1, 2020, to assist with claims and surveillance data for COVID-19.

ICD-10-CM added more codes specific to COVID-19 effective Jan. 1, 2021, to represent screening, exposure, personal history, and pneumonia, as well as multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a condition that may be associated with COVID-19.

The rules for COVID-19 ICD-10-CM coding vary depending on the date of service. Links to authoritative guidance are available on the CDC’s ICD-10-CM page. The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting address issues such as sequencing codes, coding suspected COVID-19 cases, and reporting follow-up visits.

Reference: AAPC