Skills Data Science Mapping Conditions to HCC and RAF Score

Mapping Conditions to HCC and RAF Score

v20260803
coding-hcc-risk-adjustment
This skill maps chronic conditions extracted from clinical notes to CMS-HCC V28 categories. It estimates the Risk Adjustment Factor (RAF) score, which is crucial for Medicare Advantage payments. It serves as decision support for coders by identifying candidate HCCs, applying complex coding hierarchies, and checking for MEAT documentation evidence for human validation.
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Overview

Mapping conditions to CMS-HCC V28 and estimating RAF

Surface and risk-adjust the chronic conditions OpenMed extracts by mapping them
to CMS-HCC categories (the V28 model, phasing in for payment years
2024–2026) and estimating a RAF (Risk Adjustment Factor) score. CMS pays
Medicare Advantage plans based on RAF, so accurate, documented capture of
chronic disease matters — and much of that signal lives in the narrative note,
exactly what OpenMed reads.

This is decision support for coders/clinicians, not autonomous coding. The
output is "candidate HCCs + estimated RAF + the documentation that supports (or
fails to support) each one," for human validation.

CMS-HCC crosswalks (ICD-10-CM → HCC) and the category coefficients are public
— CMS publishes them annually. Nothing restricted is bundled.

When to use

  • You want to find risk-adjustable diagnoses mentioned in a note that may not

be on the coded problem list ("suspect HCCs" / recapture).

  • You need to map ICD-10-CM codes to V28 HCCs and apply the hierarchy.
  • You want an estimated RAF for a patient or panel for review.
  • You need to check whether a diagnosis has MEAT support

(Monitored, Evaluated, Assessed, Treated) in the documentation.

Pairs with coding-icd10 (you need ICD-10-CM codes first) and may consume
mapping-to-snomed output upstream.

Quick start (public CMS crosswalk + coefficients)

CMS publishes the V28 ICD-10-CM→HCC mapping and the model coefficients. Load them
locally (public files) and apply the model:

import csv

# 1) ICD-10-CM -> HCC (V28) crosswalk from the CMS Risk Adjustment files.
icd_to_hcc = {}                       # "E1122" -> "HCC38" (Diabetes w/ complication)
with open("cms_hcc_v28_icd_map.csv") as fh:
    for row in csv.DictReader(fh):
        icd_to_hcc[row["icd10cm"].replace(".", "")] = row["hcc_v28"]

# 2) HCC -> RAF coefficient for the relevant model segment (e.g. CNA community).
hcc_weight = {}                       # "HCC38" -> 0.166 (illustrative)
with open("cms_hcc_v28_coefficients.csv") as fh:
    for row in csv.DictReader(fh):
        hcc_weight[row["hcc"]] = float(row["coefficient"])

# 3) Apply the HCC hierarchy: a more severe HCC in a family suppresses milder
#    ones (e.g. acute MI suppresses angina). Load the hierarchy from CMS.
hierarchy = {                         # parent HCC -> HCCs it zeroes out
    # "HCC37": {"HCC38"},  # illustrative; use the official V28 hierarchy file
}

def apply_hierarchy(hccs: set[str]) -> set[str]:
    kept = set(hccs)
    for parent in hccs:
        kept -= hierarchy.get(parent, set())
    return kept

def estimate_raf(icd_codes: list[str], demo_factor: float = 0.0) -> dict:
    hccs = {icd_to_hcc[c] for c in icd_codes if c in icd_to_hcc}
    hccs = apply_hierarchy(hccs)
    disease_raf = sum(hcc_weight.get(h, 0.0) for h in hccs)
    return {"hccs": sorted(hccs),
            "disease_raf": round(disease_raf, 3),
            "estimated_raf": round(disease_raf + demo_factor, 3)}

The demo_factor (age/sex, dual/disability, institutional status) comes from the
CMS demographic tables — add it for a full RAF; omit for the disease component.

Workflow

  1. Extract condition spans with OpenMed (Disease/Pathology/Oncology models).
  2. Code each to ICD-10-CM (see coding-icd10) — HCCs key off ICD-10-CM.
  3. Map ICD-10-CM → V28 HCC via the CMS crosswalk.
  4. Apply the hierarchy so only the most severe HCC in each family counts.
  5. Sum coefficients for the correct model segment + add the demographic factor

to estimate RAF.

  1. Attach MEAT evidence: for each candidate HCC, cite the note text that

Monitors/Evaluates/Assesses/Treats the condition. No MEAT → flag as
"unsupported / needs clinician confirmation," not a captured HCC.

  1. Emit candidate HCCs + estimated RAF + supporting offsets for human review.

Hand-off from OpenMed

openmed.analyze_text(..., output_format="dict") returns entities, each a dict
with text, label, confidence, start, end. Use the offsets to pull MEAT
evidence sentences:

import openmed

note = ("Problem list: type 2 diabetes with diabetic nephropathy; COPD. "
        "Plan: continue metformin, ordered HbA1c, refer nephrology.")
result = openmed.analyze_text(
    note,
    model_name="disease_detection_superclinical",   # Disease category
    output_format="dict",
)

DX_LABELS = {"DISEASE", "CONDITION", "PATHOLOGY"}
suspects = []
for ent in result["entities"]:
    if ent["label"] in DX_LABELS:
        # 1) code to ICD-10-CM (coding-icd10) -> e.g. "E1122"
        icd = map_to_icd10cm(ent["text"])           # your coding step
        hcc = icd_to_hcc.get(icd)
        if hcc:
            # MEAT: capture the sentence around the span for the reviewer
            sent = note[max(0, ent["start"] - 60): ent["end"] + 80]
            suspects.append({"condition": ent["text"], "icd10cm": icd,
                             "hcc": hcc, "span": (ent["start"], ent["end"]),
                             "meat_context": sent})

raf = estimate_raf([s["icd10cm"] for s in suspects])
print(raf, suspects)        # candidates + estimate, for coder validation

Carry OpenMed's start/end offsets so every suspect HCC links to the exact
documentation; this is what makes the suggestion auditable for RADV. Store codes,
HCCs, and offsets — not the raw note.

Edge cases & gotchas

  • Decision support, never autonomous coding. Risk-adjustment coding is

audited (CMS RADV) and has direct payment and compliance consequences. Output
suspects with evidence for a certified coder/clinician; never submit
HCCs automatically.

  • MEAT is required. A diagnosis merely mentioned (e.g. in history) without

being Monitored/Evaluated/Assessed/Treated in the encounter generally cannot be
captured. Always attach MEAT evidence and flag bare mentions as unsupported.

  • V28 dropped ~2,000 codes. The V28 transition removed many ICD-10-CM codes

from HCC mapping (notably diabetes-without-complication, some vascular and
inflammatory codes). A code that mapped under V24 may map to nothing under
V28 — use the V28 crosswalk, not V24, and don't assume continuity.

  • Hierarchy suppression. Within a disease family only the most severe HCC

counts; summing all of them inflates RAF. Apply the official V28 hierarchy.

  • Model segment matters. Coefficients differ by segment (community vs

institutional, aged vs disabled, new enrollee). Use the right segment's table or
the RAF is wrong.

  • Negation/uncertainty. "No evidence of CHF" or "rule out malignancy" must not

become captured HCCs. Resolve assertion/negation in OpenMed before mapping.

  • Annual model updates. CMS revises the model and weights yearly and is

blending V24/V28 across payment years 2024–2026; pin and record which model
version and payment year your estimate used.

  • Licensing. CMS-HCC crosswalks/coefficients and ICD-10-CM are public. Do not

bundle restricted vocabularies (CPT, SNOMED, UMLS) to support this — keep those
user-supplied and out-of-process.

  • Local-first. OpenMed NER runs on-device; HCC mapping uses local CMS tables.

No PHI needs to leave the process at all.

Standards & references

  • CMS Risk Adjustment (HCC models, files, coefficients):

https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/medicare-advantage-rates-statistics/risk-adjustment

  • CMS-HCC model software & ICD-10 mappings (V28):

https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-plans/medicareadvtgspecratestats/risk-adjustors

  • ICD-10-CM (public domain), for the upstream codes:

https://www.cms.gov/medicare/coding-billing/icd-10-codes

  • RADV (Risk Adjustment Data Validation) overview:

https://www.cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/monitoring-programs/recovery-audit-program-parts-c-and-d

  • Companion skills: coding-icd10 (codes feed HCCs), mapping-to-snomed.
Info
Category Data Science
Name coding-hcc-risk-adjustment
Version v20260803
Size 8.74KB
Updated At 2026-08-04
Language