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NIS Description of Data Elements

 
ECODEn - ICD-9-CM External Cause of Injury Code
 
Documentation Sections:
General Notes
Uniform Values
State Specific Notes
General Notes
 

In the HCUP databases, ICD-9-CM external cause of injury codes (E codes) are represented as 4- to 5-character alphanumeric codes with implicit decimals (i.e., decimals not included). Prior to data year 2014, the HCUP data elements for E Codes are length 5; in 2014, they are length 7. The first digit is the character E with all subsequent digits being numeric. The codes are left-justified in the HCUP databases so that prior to 2014 there is one space following a 4-character E code (three spaces in 2014). For example, the E code E916 would appear as 'E916 ' with a trailing blank in HCUP data and the code E917.1 would appear as 'E9171'.

The storage of E codes in the HCUP databases varies by data year:

  • Beginning in October 2015, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) external cause of morbidity codes are stored in the data element I10_ECAUSEn.
  • From January 2003 through September 2015, any separately reported E codes and any ICD-9-CM E codes encountered in the diagnosis array are placed in a separate array specific to E codes (ECODEn).
  • Prior to 2003, ICD-9-CM E codes are included in the diagnosis array (DXn).

E codes are compared to a list of ICD-9-CM codes valid for the discharge date. Anticipation of or lags in response to official ICD-9-CM coding changes are permitted for discharges occurring within a window of time around the official ICD-9-CM coding changes (usually October 1). In the data prior to 1998, a six months window (three months before and three months after) is allowed. Beginning in the 1998 data, a year window (six months before and six months after) is allowed. Invalid and inconsistent E codes are masked directly. Clinical Classifications Software (CCS) data elements are coded with respect to the E code.

  Invalid Diagnosis Inconsistent Code
The value of ECODEn "invl" "incn"
E_CCSn Set to invalid (.A). Set to inconsistent (.C)
Number of Ecodes Provided by the Data Source
State 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Alaska n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 9 6 7     6
Arizona 11 11 11 11 11 9 9 9 9 9 25 25 6 6 6 6 6 6
Arkansas n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 9 9 9 9 18 18 8 8 9 10 12 16
California 30 30 30 30 30 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 5 5 5 5 5 5
Colorado 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 11 16 16 13 11 14
Connecticut 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 9 8 10 9 10 11
District of Columbia n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 5 6 7
Florida 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 31 31 31 31 3 3 3 3 3 6
Georgia 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 30 30 30 16 18 16 8 10 9
Hawaii 11 11 11 11 11 15 20 20 20 20 20 20 7 8 7 8 8 9
Illinois 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 25 10 10 3 3 3 9
Indiana n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 15 15 15 15 15 15 18 8 9 14 9 9 10
Iowa 11 11 11 11 11 9 9 9 9 60 66 62 7 9 9 8 7 6
Kansas 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 25 30 30 30 30 10 9 11 12 12 11
Kentucky n/a n/a 10 10 11 9 9 9 9 9 25 25 10 8 8 8 9 9
Louisiana n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 9 9 6 6 6 6 6 10
Maine n/a 10 10 10 10 10 n/a n/a 10 10 10 10 6 7 6 6 6 9
Maryland 16 16 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 30 30 10 11 11 10 8 9
Massachusetts 10 16 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 8 8 8 8 14 11
Michigan n/a 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 10 10 9 9 9 10
Minnesota n/a n/a n/a 10 10 9 9 9 9 25 25 28 8 8 8 8 8 7
Mississippi n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 6 7 n/a n/a n/a 6
Missouri 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 9 11 9 10 10 6
Montana n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 25 7 6 3 3 8 8
Nebraska n/a n/a n/a 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 6 6 5 6 6 7
Nevada n/a n/a n/a n/a 15 14 14 15 15 15 33 33 4 4 4 4 4 7
New Hampshire n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
New Jersey 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 25 24 9 8 10 10 10 10
New York 17 17 17 17 17 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 7 8 10 8 9 10
North Carolina n/a n/a 15 17 18 18 18 17 17 24 24 24 7 10 8 8 7 7
North Dakota n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 6 7 8 8 7
New Mexico n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 18 10 8 8 9 11 9
Ohio n/a n/a n/a n/a 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 8 7 7 7 10 8
Oklahoma n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 16 16 16 16 16 8 7 7 9 9 7
Oregon 11 11 11 11 11 9 9 9 9 9 25 25 8 9 3 3 8 8
Pennsylvania 10 10 10 10 10 9 n/a n/a n/a n/a 9 9 8 10 10 10 10 10
Rhode Island n/a n/a n/a 12 12 11 11 11 25 25 25 25 9 10 9 12 12 12
South Carolina 10 10 10 12 12 10 10 10 10 15 15 15 9 11 8 10 8 8
South Dakota n/a n/a n/a n/a 11 9 9 9 9 79 61 77 8 7 7 3 5 5
Tennessee 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 18 18 18 10 11 9 9 9 11
Texas n/a n/a 10 10 10 9 25 25 25 25 25 25 7 6 8 9 8 10
Utah 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 8 8 9 8 10
Vermont n/a n/a n/a 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 6 9 9 9 9 10
Virginia n/a 10 10 10 10 9 9 n/a 9 9 18 18 8 7 7 8 8 7
Washington 10 10 10 10 11 9 9 9 9 25 25 25 8 10 8 8 10 10
West Virginia n/a n/a 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 18 18 18 6 6 6 8 6 5
Wisconsin 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 30 30 30 30 9 10 8 11 12 9
Wyoming n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 30 30 30 12 8 8 10 8 10
 
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Uniform Values
VariableDescriptionValueValue Description
ECODEnICD-9-CM External Cause of Injury CodeE codeannnn
BlankMissing
InvlInvalid E code
 
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State Specific Notes

Arizona

Beginning in data year 2009, hospitals in Arizona are required to report E codes for an injury diagnosis in the range 800-999. In addition, the number of E codes that could be retained on a discharge record increased.



California

Prior to data year 2010, California did not require the reporting of E-codes in the range E870-E879 (misadventures and abnormal reactions).



District of Columbia

District of Columbia does not report "cause of injury" E-codes separately. During HCUP processing, any E-code encountered in the diagnosis variables are placed in a separate array specific to E codes (ECODEn).



Georgia

Starting in 2003, the Georgia Hospital Association requires that any ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes indicating medical misadventures (E870-E879) and adverse reactions (E940-E949) be excluded from the list of diagnosis codes on the record.



Oklahoma

Incomplete External Cause of Injury code (E code) information in 2005 and 2006
In 2005 and 2006, the Oklahoma inpatient data provided to HCUP did not include their field for a separately collected External Cause of Injury code (E code). Some E codes were reported with the diagnosis, but the exclusion of this data field means that the E code reporting is incomplete.

Oklahoma requires E codes to be reported for only the initial treatment of the injury. They are not required for transfers or any secondary treatments. E codes are required whenever there is any diagnosis (primary, secondary) of an injury, poisoning, or adverse effect (ICD-9-CM codes 800-999) and it is the initial treatment for that condition.



South Carolina

South Carolina does not provide to HCUP E-codes in the range E870-E876 (misadventures and abnormal reactions).



West Virginia

West Virginia hospitals were not required to submit E-codes. Thus, these fields were almost 99% missing in the 2007 files.


 
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Internet Citation: HCUP NIS Description of Data Elements. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). September 2008. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/db/vars/ecoden/nisnote.jsp.
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Last modified 9/17/08