Home Health & Hospice Week

Hint: You'll never report 294.1 alone. If your patients' physicians are like most, they document that patients have dementia but don't provide specifics about the type or cause. Problem: Without specifics, you are likely under-reporting patients'actual conditions. Follow this expert advice for greater dementia coding accuracy. Go Back To The Source If the physician determines that the patient has dementia and that's all you have documented, report 294.8 (Other persistent mental disorders due to conditions classified elsewhere, or dementia NOS), says Lisa Selman-Holman, consultant and principle of Selman-Holman & Associates in Denton, Texas. Symptom coding tip: If the doctor also lists symptoms, you should code for them separately. For example, list 297.9 (Unspecified paranoid state) for delusions. When the physician provides a more specific diagnosis, you can choose from the more detailed dementia codes including 290.1x (Presenile dementia), 290.2x (Senile dementia with delusional or depressive features), 290.3 (Senile dementia with [...]