Outpatient Facility Coding Alert
Reader Question:
CAP Diagnosis Should Be 486
Published on Fri Feb 15, 2013 
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Question: The discharge diagnosis is "CAP bilateral." What does this mean? I’m not sure where to begin searching for this.
Answer: CAP is an acronym for Community Acquired Pneumonia. If there’s additional information in the record, that would affect code choice. If this is the only information you have, report the diagnosis as 486 (Pneumonia organism unspecified).
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