SIRS is gone

Quandary or Conundrum 

In ICD-10, there will no longer be a code for SIRS occurring due to an infectious process. 

The only references to SIRS in the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting are those specifically related to SIRS due to a non-infectious process. There are instructional notes in ICD-10-CM that instruct to code the underlying condition first , which means that the underlying condition should be sequenced before the SIRS code.

In the ICD-10-CM world, in order to accurately reflect the severity of illness and risk of mortality for patients who present with a localized infection, SIRS, and a clinical picture of sepsis, the provider must document sepsis as a diagnosis. 

As a reminder,

Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the blood as evidenced by a positive blood culture. (not always associated with Sepsis!).  Basically, it's only a lab finding.

Septicemia can be found classified under the code for sepsis ( unspecified organism). The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting have removed all references to septicemia. Septicemia DOES NOT mean bacteria in the blood. Septicemia is a dissemination of toxins (sepsis causing materials/particles) in the blood stream. 

 It's important for physicians to understand these small nuances in ICD-10 Sepsis changes.