MEDICAL CODING - EXTERNAL CAUSES & INJURIES - Using the 7th Character (A, D, S)

The external reason for morbidity codes capture:
How the injury or health condition occurred (cause)
The intent (unintended or unintentional; or deliberate, such as suicide or attack)
The location where the occasion happened.
The activity of the client at the time of the occasion.

There’s no nationwide requirement for necessary ICD-10-CM external cause code reporting. Unless a supplier goes through a state-based external cause code reporting required or these codes are needed by a specific payer, reporting of ICD-10-CM codes in Chapter 20 of the ICD-10-CM, External Causes of Morbidity isn’t needed.

In the lack of a necessary reporting requirement, we motivate service providers to willingly report external cause codes, as they offer important information for injury research study and examination of injury avoidance techniques. (CMS.gov).

https://medicalbillingcertificationprograms.org/medical-coding-external-causes-injuries-using-the-7th-character-a-d-s/