Pain Management Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Where to Find Post Meningitis Headache Diagnosis

Published on Mon Jun 02, 2014

PDF

Question: A patient developed pneumocephalus meningitis after an attempt to open a blocked tear duct. I’m having trouble finding a proper ICD-9 code for post meningitis persistent headache. The best I’ve found so far is 339.2x. Is there a better choice?

Montana Subscriber

Answer: Since ICD-9’s alphabetic index doesn’t list a code for post-pneumocephalus or post-meningitis persistent headache, your first step should be querying the provider for an accurate diagnosis. Potential codes could include:

339.2x – Post-traumatic headache
339.42 – New daily persistent headache
339.44 – Other complicated headache syndrome
339.89 – Other headache syndromes.

Remember: Just because the term “persistent” is used in the new daily persistent headache diagnosis does not mean that this would be the appropriate diagnosis to report. This specific condition has more requirements than just being consistent that are not specified in the information provided in the question – “post pneumocephalus meningitis persistent headache.”

Pain Management Coding Alert

Procedure Focus:
Yes, You Can Separately Code Fluoroscopic Guidance With 64520 - Sometimes
Don’t forget to double check CCI edits. Every pain management coder runs into the obstacle [...]

Modifiers:
Check Out These 5 Steps to Modifier -22 Success
The modifier won't add extra pay, but the extra time involved could. When your pain [...]

ICD-10:
Remember Your Spinal Regions When Coding for Radiculopathy
Heads up: You’ll have lots more diagnosis choices in 2015. Choosing your diagnosis code for [...]

Reader Question:
Report 62368 or 62370 Over 95991 When Possible
Question: We used to bill the 62368, 95991, and the appropriate J code for pump refills. [...]

Reader Question:
Choose Best Code for Follow-Ups, Not Just 99212
Question: We recently finished our first internal audit and found a potential issue: One of the [...]

Reader Question:
Check Timing of Lumbar Pars Defect to Help Narrow Diagnosis
Question: I reported 64493 for a lumbar pars injection. The associated diagnosis is lumbar pars defect, [...]

Reader Question:
Start With 64400 for Trigeminal Nerve Injections
Question: Our pain management specialist documented “0.5 ML across the right and 0.5 ML across [...]

Reader Question:
Consider This When Transitioning to New Software
Question: Our IT department decided to do a major software upgrade to ensure we stay HIPAA [...]

You Be the Coder:
Where to Find Post Meningitis Headache Diagnosis
Question: A patient developed pneumocephalus meningitis after an attempt to open a blocked tear duct. I’m [...]

View All