Internal Medicine Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Know How to Report Feeding Difficulties

Published on Thu Dec 01, 2016

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Question: If our internist reported “feeding difficulties,” what code should I report? Are there any age restrictions for reporting the problem, or can it be reported irrespective of the age of the patient? Please let me know.

Idaho Subscriber

Answer: You have not mentioned the exact age and the type of feeding difficulties of the patient. If the feeding difficulties occurred in a newborn, then depending on the type of feeding difficulty, you should report an appropriate code from P92.- (Feeding problems of newborn…). If the child is above the age of 28 days, you will have to report the occurrence of feeding difficulties with R63.3 (Feeding difficulties).

There are no age restrictions for reporting R63.3. If you look at the notes for R63.3, you will see that it contains the terms, “infant” and “elderly.” Therefore, you can report the code when your internist reports feeding difficulties in a patient who is older than 28 days or in an elderly patient also, irrespective of the age of the patient.