05/11/2023

ASCO Coding Tip of the Month: May 2023

Specificity in diagnosis is crucial in the documentation and reporting of oncology diseases. One area of frequent confusion is the indication of primary versus metastatic cancer.  

For a primary cause of cancer caused by a neoplasm, the diagnosis would be reported with a code belonging to the range of C01-76 in Chapter 2 Neoplasms of the ICD-10-CM manual. If the cancer has spread to a secondary site, it should be documented and reported with a code found in the range of C77-79.  

Documentation should specify where both primary and secondary sites of neoplasm are located (unless they are unknown).