Screening for Breast Cancer ICD 10

Why are screening for breast cancer ICD 10 codes important? Screening for breast cancer can help doctors and patients find cancer in its early stages. Screening tests for breast cancer include mammogram, breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and a clinical breast exam. Regularly scheduled breast cancer screening exams can lower the risks of detecting breast cancer after it has progressed to the advanced stages.

When doctors are screening for breast cancer ICD 10 codes are important to explain the diagnosis. The International Classification of Disease (ICD) is a diagnostic tool created by the World Health Organization (WHO). ICD 10 codes are important in the application to healthcare for fair reimbursement and care costs, as well as health policy decision making because of the availability of better data. In practice, if a mammogram to detect breast cancer is diagnostic, the ICD-10-CM code assigned is the explanation of that diagnosis. Some diagnostic ICD 10 codes are billable codes, while other ICD 10 codes are non-billable.

Screening for Breast Cancer ICD 10 Codes

ICD 10 codes are formatted to define the category of disease, disorder, infection, or symptom, along with the body site, problem severity, and cause of injury. Different characters in these codes mean different things. An example of a breast cancer ICD 10 code is C50.211. ICD 10 code C50.211 defines a malignant neoplasm of an upper-inner quadrant of a female’s right breast. The first 3 characters, C50.211, define malignant neoplasm of the breast. The characters in positions 4-6, C50.211 define the upper-inner quadrant of the right female breast.

ICD-10 Code Examples:

• C50.012: Malignant neoplasm of nipple and areola, left female breast
• C50.112: Malignant neoplasm of central portion, left female breast
• C50.021: Malignant neoplasm of nipple and areola, left male breast
• C50.522: Malignant neoplasm of lower-outer quadrant, left male breast

Breast Cancer Screening Tests

Mammogram: An X-ray of the breast

Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): Magnets and radio waves are used to take pictures of the breast

Clinical Breast Exam: Examination by a doctor or nurse to assess for lumps

Breast Self-Awareness: Noticing changes with how the breasts look and feel and talking with a health care provider about those changes

Resources:

https://www.cdc.gov/breast

https://icd-codes.com/