Dependent Drop Down Variables

[aklunder]

I work in healthcare and I'm trying to create a form that allows people to search when a waiver is needed for a particular service. I would like to create a form with about a hundred procedure codes as the starting point. and based on that procedure code entered, I have a list of possible diagnosis.

Example: A lesion removal code (11200) is ordered. Based on that procedure code, I want another dropdown list that shows all the acceptable diagnosis. Or if I would order a lab test code (81003) I would get a different set of diagnosis codes to choose from.

It sounds very simple (and I'm sure it is for someone), but I'm stumped.

Any ideas would be very much appreciated!

 

[pbaldy]

Sounds like cascading combos:

http://www.baldyweb.com/CascadingCombo.htm

 

[Simon_MT]

If the Diagnoses are unique to each Procudure you may need two tables otherwise you will need another table to combine the two!

Simon

 

[aklunder]

I'll attach a sample of my database. Here is for one procedure (Benign Lesion Removal). I want to create a form that does this. If one of the CPT codes is ordered, I would like the stand alone diagnosis code list to choose from to populate. I would also like a list of the stand alone diagnosis codes and a list of the secondary diagnosis codes to populate based on the CPT.

So based on the CPT code I would like a field for:
1. Stand Alone Diagnosis
2. Primary Diagnosis
3. Secondary Diagnosis.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[pbaldy]

Is there a relationship between the tables? If you choose 11200, what determines what stand alone options would be available?

 

[aklunder]

This is only a rough example. All of the CPT codes listed should yield exactly the same stand alone codes and the primary diagnosis and secondary diagnosis. I will have different CPT codes that yield different stand alone diagnosis codes and primary and secondary codes. My goal is for our clinical staff to simply say ok I ordered this CPT code, do my diagnosis support medical necessity. Does that make sense?

 

[pbaldy]

Maybe I've had too much wine, but I don't understand the relationship between the tables, or what you want to happen. Give specifics; what options should I see if 11200 is selected, and why?

 

[marianne]

wow i like that. but i cant seem to open your file. can you save it as access version 2000 ? and yeah i think it is simple.

 

[Simon_MT]

You need to tie in the Diagnosis Codes to the CPT Code so that there is a relationship between the two files.

I would be tempted to have one file for Diagnosis Codes with a Flag for each type:

Stand Alone 0
Primary 1
Secondary 2

Simon

 

[aklunder]

Ok I'll try and explain a little bit better. I am trying to build a form that verifies medical necessity. So for every procedure there is a CPT code that must be medically necessary for us to bill for. I would like to streamline the process so that if I select a CPT code from a drop down list, the next drop down list will populate a list of acceptable diagnosis codes. The most important drop down list is the "stand alone" diagnosis codes. This means that this diagnosis code is acceptable by itself to support medical necessity. The primary and secondary diagnosis tables are only needed if a diagnosis was made that is not included in the stand alone diagnosis codes. Not all CPT codes will have primary and secondary diagnosis codes to relate to.

I may have built these tables wrong. I know what I want and I'm sure there is a way to do it, but I'm clueless on how to get there. Attached is a database that I have built. The CPT codes are what should be in the first drop down list. I have named the columns according to what diagnosis they should be included in. The benign lesion codes are the only codes that will have a primary or a secondary diagnosis, the others will only have stand alone codes.

The CPT codes in each column will relate to the exact same diagnosis codes. Example: 11200 will relate to the same diagnosis codes as 11201 11300, 11301, etc. BUT will have different diagnosis codes from 85651, 85652 (the Erythrocyte Sed Rate column). Everything in the Benign Lesion CPT code column needs to be related the diagnosis codes in the Benign Lesion code DX column. Everything in the ESR CPT column must relate to the ESR diagnosis codes. And everything in the Cholesterol CPT column must relate to the cholesterol Diagnosis codes.

PLEASE HELP!

 

[pbaldy]

I think you have a normalization issue, as the different diagnosis types should not be in columns. I assume if you get another item, it will be a column in each of the tables? How do you make the initial choice, between Benign, Cholesterol, etc?

I don't think I understand the situation enough at this point to make a recommendation, but research normalization and see what you find. I have to work on a project right now.

 

[pbaldy]

I think you have a normalization issue, as the different diagnosis types should not be in columns. I assume if you get another item, it will be a column in each of the tables? How do you make the initial choice, between Benign, Cholesterol, etc?

I don't think I understand the situation enough at this point to make a recommendation, but research normalization and see what you find. I have to work on a project right now.