Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Question: We have a patient on long-term Dilantin for treatment of seizures. We will be observing the patient for seizure activity and providing teaching related to the seizure disorder. We will also be monitoring the therapeutic effectiveness of the Dilantin in controlling seizure activity. How should we code for this patient?

California Subscriber

Answer: The seizures themselves are your focus of care, so sequence them first. There are several codes for seizures, so you'll need to refer to documentation in order to code for them with as much specificity as you can.

Code for the monitoring of the medication response with V58.83 (Encounter for therapeutic drug monitoring) and V58.69 (Long-term [current] use of other medications).

Unless otherwise indicated, reader questions were answered by Lisa Selman-Holman, JD, BSN, RN, HCS-D, COS-C, consultant and principal of Selman-Holman & Associates in Denton, TX.