Pediatric Coding Alert

Question: A mom gave birth to single live newborn vaginally. During the pregnancy, the mom had contracted COVID-19, but she had recovered prior to the birth. Is it possible to code Z38.00 and Z20.822 in this situation?

AAPC Forum Participant

Answer: Whether or not you code Z20.822 (Contact with and (suspected) exposure to covid-19) along with Z38.00 (Single liveborn infant, delivered vaginally) will depend on whether the mom tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of the child’s birth.

If she didn’t, then the Z20.822 would be unnecessary. If she did, then you could code for COVID-19 exposure assuming the neonate also did not test positive for the condition. If the newborn did test positive, then you would follow ICD-10 guideline I.C.16.h, which tells you to code U07.1 (COVID-19) along with P35.8 (Other congenital viral diseases) if the condition was contracted in utero.

And remember: The guideline also goes on to tell you that “when coding the birth episode in a newborn record, the appropriate code from category Z38 [Liveborn infants according to place of birth and type of delivery], should be assigned as the principal diagnosis.” This would be true regardless of the newborn’s COVID-19 status.