ICD-10 Diagnosis Code H44.519

• 124 - OTHER DISORDERS OF THE EYE WITH MCC
• 125 - OTHER DISORDERS OF THE EYE WITHOUT MCC

• 360.42 - Blind hypertensive eye (Approximate Flag)

• Absolute glaucoma

Glaucoma is a group of diseases that can damage the eye's optic nerve. It is a leading cause of blindness in the United States. It usually happens when the fluid pressure inside the eyes slowly rises, damaging the optic nerve. Often there are no symptoms at first. Without treatment, people with glaucoma will slowly lose their peripheral, or side vision. They seem to be looking through a tunnel. Over time, straight-ahead vision may decrease until no vision remains.

A comprehensive eye exam can tell if you have glaucoma. People at risk should get eye exams at least every two years. They include

• African Americans over age 40
• People over age 60, especially Mexican Americans
• People with a family history of glaucoma

There is no cure, but glaucoma can usually be controlled. Early treatment can help protect your eyes against vision loss. Treatments usually include prescription eyedrops and/or surgery.

NIH: National Eye Institute

• Glaucoma (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Ophthalmoscopy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Standard ophthalmic exam (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Tonometry (Medical Encyclopedia)

General Equivalence Map Definitions
The ICD-10 and ICD-9 GEMs are used to facilitate linking between the diagnosis codes in ICD-9-CM and the new ICD-10-CM code set. The GEMs are the raw material from which providers, health information vendors and payers can derive specific applied mappings to meet their needs.

• Approximate Flag - The approximate flag is on, indicating that the relationship between the code in the source system and the code in the target system is an approximate equivalent.
• No Map Flag - The no map flag indicates that a code in the source system is not linked to any code in the target system.
• Combination Flag - The combination flag indicates that more than one code in the target system is required to satisfy the full equivalent meaning of a code in the source system.

Present on Admission
The Present on Admission (POA) indicator is used for diagnosis codes included in claims involving inpatient admissions to general acute care hospitals. POA indicators must be reported to CMS on each claim to facilitate the grouping of diagnoses codes into the proper Diagnostic Related Groups (DRG). CMS publishes a listing of specific diagnosis codes that are exempt from the POA reporting requirement.