Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

You won't find one-to-one crosswalk for drug use.ICD-9 does not provide one specific code for a urine drug test -- nor does ICD-10. The correct diagnosis code for billing a lab drug test depends on the signs, symptoms, patient condition, or other reason for the test, such as screening.For example: The physician orders a drug screen for a patient diagnosed with Cannabis dependence who uses the drug intermittently. Report the ordering diagnosis as 304.32 (Cannabis dependence, episodic use) with ICD-9.ICD-10 crosswalk: Although ICD-10 often provides more detail than ICD-9 -- leading to more code choices for ICD-10 -- the opposite is true in this case. The following three ICD-9 codes crosswalk to a single ICD-10 code (F12.20, Cannabis dependence, uncomplicated):304.30 -- Cannabis dependence, unspecified use304.31 -- Cannabis dependence, continuous use304.32 -- Cannabis dependence, episodic use.Use Different Codes for Abuse or UseBoth ICD-9 and ICD-10 distinguish between drug dependence versus drug abuse. For instance, 304.3x identifies [...]