Alcohol Use Indicator

🤔 Question: Can the blood labs from an autopsy for alcohol level and drug test be used?

🌱 Answer: Yes, if done within the first 48 hours after death when they will be accurate.

Circumstances of Injury

🤔 Question: How should abuse should be captured. Some pediatric patients come in with suspicious burns and child protective services (CPS) is called. After CPS investigates, sometimes it's ruled as not abuse and patient goes home with the caregiver that brought them in. In order to get the Report of Abuse fields to open, you have to click on Suspected Assault/Abuse. Is that what should be entered even after the investigation rules out abuse? And if so, does the Primary ICD-10 External Cause Code have to be an abuse code? In other words, does the circumstance of injury have to match the ICD 10 external cause code? This feels like underreporting the number of investigations of abuse, but then if no abuse is found, there will be overreporting abuse cases.

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🌱 Answer: The burn surgeon should determine the most likely cause of the injury (burn or non-burn) and then the specific cause if known. If the surgeon thinks it was, for example, a friction/shearing injury but does not sure specifically what type you can enter Friction/Shearing: Other or if it looks like a Traumatic Injury select a cause or Other.

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