My patient has PVD, atherosclerosis of the lower extremities, and an AAA, which are all in HCC 105. I was told we need to document all three conditions even though there is only one payment for each HCC. Do I really need to waste of my time reporting all three conditions?

Q:	My patient has PVD, atherosclerosis of the lower extremities, and an AAA, which are all in HCC 105. I was told we need to document all three conditions even though there is only one payment for each HCC. Do I really need to waste of my time reporting all three conditions?

A:	Yes, you do. The medical record is a legal document that must reflect all the conditions the patient has and their management. If the patient has all three conditions, they must all be documented and reported. From a purely payment standpoint, consider that the CMS-HCC payment methodology is subject to change and there exists the possibility that HCCs could be split, or conditions may be dropped from the model. If the provider has ‘cut corners’ in documentation to supposedly save time, this could impact the funding. This answer was updated for ICD-10-CM. Read here. Tagged: AAA, atherosclerosis, CMS-HCC payment methodology, documentation, hcc, MRA, PVD