New COVID-19 MS-DRG assignment

As requested by AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued a corrected announcement regarding the Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group Grouper to recognize the new ICD-10-CM diagnosis code, U07.1, for COVID-19. The initial MS-DRG assignment posted March 20 would have resulted in significant reimbursement reductions for hospitals. The ICD-10 MS-DRG Grouper assigns each case into an MS-DRG based on the reported diagnosis and procedure codes and demographic information (age, sex and discharge status). The ICD-10 MS-DRG Grouper software package to accommodate this new code, Version 37.1 R1, is effective for discharges on or after April 1, 2020