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2021 ICD-10-CM Updates

Guidance for ICD-10-CM updates for FY 2021

Issued by: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Issue Date: June 25, 2020

COVID-19 UPDATE

In response to the national emergency that was declared concerning the COVID-19 outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is implementing 6 new diagnosis codes into the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), effective January 1, 2021.

The files in the Downloads section below contain information on the ICD-10-CM COVID-19 updates effective with discharges and patient encounters on and after January 1, 2021.

The 2021 ICD-10-CM files below contain information on the ICD-10-CM updates for FY 2021. These 2021 ICD-10-CM codes are to be used for discharges occurring from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021 and for patient encounters occurring from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

Note:
There is no FY 2021 GEMs file. As stated in the FY 2016 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule (80 FR 49388), the GEMs have been updated on an annual basis as part of the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meetings process and will continue to be updated for approximately 3 years after ICD-10 is implemented.

We made the GEMs files available for FY 2016, FY 2017 and FY 2018.

An announcement was also made at the September 2017 ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting that FY 2018 would be the last GEMs file update.

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DISCLAIMER: The contents of this database lack the force and effect of law, except as authorized by law (including Medicare Advantage Rate Announcements and Advance Notices) or as specifically incorporated into a contract. The Department may not cite, use, or rely on any guidance that is not posted on the guidance repository, except to establish historical facts.