MDS Alert

Reader Question:

Know What Sets This Condition Apart

Question: How does secondary Parkinsonism differ from Parkinson’s disease, and what ICD-10 codes should we report for secondary Parkinsonism?

Hawaii Subscriber

Answer: Secondary Parkinsonism is like Parkinson’s disease; however, the symptoms are caused by certain medicines, a different nervous system disorder, or another illness.

You have the following ICD-10-CM choices to report Parkinsonism:

  • G21.0 (Malignant neuroleptic syndrome)
  • G21.11 (Neuroleptic induced parkinsonism)
  • G21.19 (Other drug induced secondary parkinsonism)
  • G21.2 (Secondary parkinsonism due to other external agents)
  • G21.3 (Postencephalitic parkinsonism)
  • G21.8 (Other secondary parkinsonism)
  • G21.9 (Secondary parkinsonism, unspecified).

Don’t miss: Each code for secondary Parkinsonism excludes dementia with Parkinsonism (G31.83), Huntington’s disease (G10), Shy-Drager syndrome (G90.3), and syphilitic Parkinsonism (A52.19).

Important: Since several of the secondary Parkinsonism ICD-10 codes direct you to report an additional code for adverse effects or to first code the drug or external agent causing the secondary Parkinsonism, you will want to make sure you carefully read all of the notes associated with these codes. 

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