Billing Workflows Process Guide: Add Diagnosis Workflow
1. Overview: Attaching Diagnoses to Claim Interventions
This guide focuses on the Add Diagnosis workflow, which is a vital stage in the broader Billing Workflows Process. It is key in linking medical reasons (diagnoses) for services provided to the specific interventions on a patient's claim. The main role of this workflow is to accurately add a new ICD-11 diagnosis code and associate it with an existing intervention within a claim.
1.1. What This Workflow Does
The Add Diagnosis workflow's primary function is to append a new, valid ICD-11 diagnosis code to a specified intervention that is already part of a patient's claim. It does this by taking the patient's visit consent, the diagnosis code, and the intervention code, then performing validations to ensure the diagnosis is appropriate and compliant for that intervention.
1.2. Why This Workflow Is Critical (The "Why It Matters")
Accurately attaching diagnoses to interventions is important for proper medical coding, claim justification, and financial reimbursement. This workflow is important as it brings with it the following benefits:
- Claim Acceptance: Claims are likely to be accepted if the diagnoses justify the interventions performed or are valid for the type of service.
- Improved Auditability: Correct diagnoses make it easy to have audits, and this potentially results in no penalties or repayment obligations.
- Accurate Reporting: Correct diagnosis data improves public health reporting and internal performance analysis.
- Operational Efficiency: This workflow reduces the need for manual correction of diagnosis errors or re-submission of denied claims, leading to increased efficiency.
This workflow is key to ensuring the clinical and financial validity of claims. It ensures that the medical necessity of services is clearly documented, supporting the overall integrity of the Billing Workflows Process.
2. Workflow Details: Add Diagnosis
2.1. Workflow Description: Step-by-Step System Behavior
When a request to add a new diagnosis to a claim intervention is received, several processes unfold:
- Input Reception: The system first receives the
consent_tokenfor the active patient visit, theicd_coderepresenting the diagnosis, and theintervention_codeto which the diagnosis should be attached. - Visit and Consent Validation: The system immediately validates the provided
consent_tokento confirm that the patient's visit is still active/open and that the consent is valid. - Diagnosis and Intervention Specific Validations:
- The system checks if the provided
intervention_codehas a specific diagnosis block or list of accepted diagnoses. - It verifies that the
icd_codeprovided is an active diagnosis. - It confirms that the
icd_codeadheres to the ICD-11 standard. - If the
intervention_codeis associated with a 'capitation' payment model, it checks that the chosen diagnosis has a weight greater than zero.
- The system checks if the provided
- Diagnosis Association: If all validations pass, the system proceeds to link the new
icd_codeto the specifiedintervention_codewithin the patient's claim.
2.2. Key Validations: Our System's Essential Checks
There are some essential checks our system performs behind the scenes to ensure a successful and accurate "Add Diagnosis" operation:
-
Active Visit/Consent Validation:
Theconsent_tokenmust correspond to a currently open and active visit. -
Intervention-Specific Diagnosis Acceptance:
Theicd_codemust fall within the accepted categories or diagnosis blocks for the givenintervention_code. -
Diagnosis Activity Status:
Theicd_codemust be active. -
ICD 11 Format Compliance:
Theicd_codemust follow the ICD-11 standard format. -
Capitation Diagnosis Weight Validation:
If under capitation, the diagnosis must have a defined weight greater than zero (>0).
2.3. Workflow Data Dictionary (Conceptual): What Information We Work With
| Field Name | Description | Data Type | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
consent_token | The consent token for the patient visit. | string | Yes | Authorises the diagnosis addition for the correct patient and visit. |
icd_code | A valid ICD-11 code. | string | Yes | The specific diagnosis to associate with the intervention. |
intervention_code | The intervention to attach this diagnosis to. | string | Yes | Identifies the specific service or procedure being justified. |
2.4. Expected Outcomes from this Workflow
When you query this workflow, here's what you can expect in return:
- Success: Diagnosis Added to Intervention – the
icd_codeis linked to theintervention_code, and all validations pass. - Failure: Invalid Visit/Consent – the
consent_tokenis invalid, expired, or the visit is closed. - Failure: Invalid ICD Code – the
icd_codeis invalid, not active, or lacks capitation weight. - Failure: Diagnosis Incompatible with Intervention – the diagnosis is not allowed for the provided
intervention_code. - Failure: Intervention Not Found – the
intervention_codeis not associated with the patient’s visit. - Failure: Missing Required Data – a mandatory field (
consent_token,icd_code,intervention_code) is missing or malformed.

