Internal Medicine Coding Alert

Published on Tue Nov 28, 2006 PDF

Can you find the diagnosis codes in this patient's history?

Sometimes it may seem as if there's an ICD-9 code for everything, but it can be difficult to find the one you're looking for when you need it. Grab your ICD-9 manual and test your coding skills by filling in the codes for this life story.

My life began on a sunny November morning when I was born to my wonderful parents, both of whom now have diabetes (V code Dx1: ____). When I was 6 months old, I was diagnosed with croup (Dx 2: ______), which later turned into viral pneumonia (Dx3: _______).
 I was an avid tree climber as a child, and I fell out of a tree once (E code Dx 4:______), which caused some minor hearing loss in my left ear (Dx 5: _____) and occasional tinnitus in my right ear (Dx 6: ____). 
 I got my first job at the age of 17, when I worked at a deli. I cut the lunch meat too closely one afternoon and cut off the tip of my right index finger (Dx 7: ____). About a week later, I suffered a skin infection at the amputation site (Dx 8:____).
 After I healed from that, I stayed away from sharp objects and went to college on a tennis scholarship. After three years of daily tennis playing, I got tennis elbow (Dx 9: ___) and rotator cuff tendinitis (Dx 10: ___).
 Ever since I graduated from college, I haven't had toomuch time for sports, so now I walk for exercise and garden on the weekends for leisure. Kneeling in the garden has exacerbated osteoarthritis in my knees (Dx
11: ________). The doctor also said I should start taking calcium supplements because he thinks I have the early signs of osteoporosis (Dx 12: ____).

Were you able to play "This Is Your Life" with the patient's diagnosis coding? Review the answers to our ICD-9 coding quiz to see how well you scored:

Answers:

Dx 1: V18.0 (Family history of diabetes mellitus)

Dx 2: 464.4 (Croup)

Dx 3: 480.9 (Viral pneumonia, unspecified)

Dx 4: E884.9 (Fall from tree)

Dx 5: 389.15 (Sensorineural hearing loss, unilateral)

Dx 6: 388.30 (Tinnitus, unspecified)

Dx 7: 886.0 (Traumatic amputation of other finger[s] [complete] [partial]; without mention of complication).

Dx 8: 686.9 (Unspecified local infection of skin and subcutaneous tissue)

Dx 9: 726.32 (Lateral epicondylitis)

Dx 10: 762.10 (Disorders of bursae and tendons in shoulder region, unspecified)

Dx 11: 715.36 (Osteoarthrosis, localized, not specified whether primary or secondary; lower leg)

Dx 12: 733.00 (Osteoporosis, unspecified)

Note: Remember that E codes are supplemental codes only, and you should not use them as primary diagnoses.