Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Question: During a level-four office evaluation and management (E/M) visit for a new patient, my provider documented a diagnosis of streptococcal meningitis, but I’m not sure which ICD-10-CM code I should report on the claim. Could you please help me?

Delaware Subscriber

Answer: You append G00.2 (Streptococcal meningitis) to 99204 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of a new patient, which requires a medically appropriate history and/or examination and moderate level of medical decision making. When using time for code selection, 45-59 minutes of total time is spent on the date of the encounter.) to represent the patient’s streptococcal meningitis.

Streptococcal meningitis refers to a type of bacterial meningitis caused by group B streptococcal bacteria where a patient suffers from inflammation of the protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord. This type of meningitis is most commonly spread from a mother who is carrying group B streptococcus to the baby during labor and childbirth.

Caution: When you report G00.2, you should also report an additional code from categories B95.0 (Streptococcus, group A, as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere)-B95.5 (Unspecified streptococcus as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere), to further identify the organism.