RE: skin ulcer

[Heidi Ebertowski]

If it has necrotic tissue or slough in the wound bed than for MDS purposes you stage it as a stage IV cuz you cannot see the wound bed.  For in house purposes you might want to call it unknown stage until the necrotic tissue is debrided then you can assess it more accurately. Heidi   Heidi Ebertowski,R.N. MDS Care Coordinator Valley Memorial Homes Grand Forks, ND (701)787-7937   fax (701)787-7901 Confidentiality Statement: This message is intended for the sole use of the individual and entity to whom it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged,confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law.  If you are not the intended addressee,nor authorized to receive for the intended addressee,you are hereby notified that you may not use,copy,disclose or distribute to anyone the message or any information contained in the message.  If you have received this message in error,please immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete the message.  Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: Michelle Witges [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 3:15 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: skin ulcer   Question for the group, I have a patient that has an ulcer on left lower leg and the MD has documented that it is a stage II, but it clearly has necrotic tissue almost throughout the entire ulcer.  Would I code it a stage IV even though the doc says stage II? Michelle   This message is confidential, intended only for the named recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If this message contains protected health information (PHI), it should not be forwarded to any other recipient without the authorization of the original sender and should be encrypted when possible.  If you are not the intended recipient(s), you are notified that the dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you receive this message in error, or are not the named recipient(s), please notify the sender at either the email address or telephone number above and delete this email from your computer.   Thank You.   Michelle Witges