I’m sure it’s clear to you all that we have a reasonable response with our radiation proctitis patients, and the data supports us here, however it’s inclusion under Medicare remains unclear. My practice is that it is reasonable to treat, is covered under Medicare and should be included under soft tissue radiation necrosis.
For the future, please do NOT include a diagnosis of radiation proctitis in your charting for medicare patients. I think it’s fine to mention it in HPI, we’re not hiding anything, but when it comes to the ICD-10 code and Dx association for the treatment plan, please code it as Soft Tissue Radionecrosis (which it is).