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Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

You Be the Coder:

250.00 May Just Be One of the ICD-9 Charcot Foot Choices

Published on Sat Sep 11, 2010

Question: A patient with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) presents with Charcot foot that requires treatment. What ICD-9 code should I use to report this condition? Kentucky SubscriberAnswer: You should work from the bottom up when coding for Charcot foot. First, be prepared to use a secondary diagnosis code, which would be 713.5 (Arthropathy associated with neurological disorders). Both Charcot's arthropathy associated with diseases classifiable elsewhere and neuropathic arthritis associated with diseases classifiable elsewhere fall under code 713.5, according to the brackets following the code's description. Then, move up to the underlying disease to describe the primary diagnosis. In this case, you should note three possibilities:tabetic [syphilitic] (094.0)diabetic (249.6, 250.6)syringomyelic (336.0)Warning: Don't be too quick to bill 250.00 (Diabetes mellitus) as your primary diagnosis. While it is the most common cause of Charcot arthropathy, there are others. If the podiatrist diagnosed Charcot foot due to diabetes, you would report [...]
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