Update 2/11/2015: The comprehensive solution proposed to address VTE confirmed related issues has been updated and additional details and materials have been added. You can review these under CQM-882 ( https://jira.oncprojectracking.org/browse/CQM-882 ). We welcome the community's feedback, questions and discussion. --------- Update 1/29/2015: We are considering a preliminary solution for this issue as part of an integrated approach to resolve a number of issues related to VTE confirmed. This solution would eliminate the VTE confirmed value set and use some codes currently in the ICD-9-CM/ICD-10-CM Venous Thromboembolism value set to capture patients with a VTE diagnosis. Please see the solution posted for CQM-882 ( https://jira.oncprojectracking.org/browse/CQM-882 ) for additional details. We welcome and encourage feedback from the community regarding the proposed approach. -------- Per The Joint Commission (measure steward); There are multiple reasons why we chose not to use ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM codes to represent VTE confirmed: • First and foremost, according to coding guidelines, an ICD-9-CM/ICD-10-CM code can be assigned to cases where there was a suspicion rather than a confirmed diagnosis, which defeats the very purpose of the data element. • Secondly, the value set is used in the context of a diagnostic test result, and one wouldn’t expect diagnostic test results to be coded in ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM. In fact, the only vocabulary identified in the CMS blueprint for diagnostic test results is SNOMED-CT (no transitional vocabularies are identified). • Lastly, part of the purpose of this data element is also to “catch” more detail than ICD can, and specifically the I9 codes are not specific enough to identify a proximal lower extremity VTE. I think that has changed with ICD-10-CM, but the prior bullets would still apply. Not including ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM codes with this value set was not an oversight. ICD-9 codes can be remapped to other diagnostic codes if clinically appropriate, but the steward does not approve of the proposed change so it will not be instituted for 2014 MU2 Annual Update.