Find Clarity Coding This Perioral Dermatitis Encounter
Question: The notes for a primary care encounter say: Patient scheduled an appointment with their primary care provider (PCP) to have their skin examined due to pustules, inflammation, and tingling pain on their chin. Physician examined the patient and diagnosed them with perioral dermatitis and told them to pause their current skincare routine and start using a prescription antibiotic gel. How do I code this encounter? New Jersey Subscriber Answer: You’ll need to select an evaluation and management (E/M) code to cover the patient’s encounter. Look to a code from the 99202-99215 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management …) series; make sure you select a code that reflects the patient’s status as new or established. To report the perioral dermatitis diagnosis, look to ICD-10-CM code L71.0 (Perioral dermatitis). If the provider determines and documents that the condition is the result of an adverse effect of a drug, make sure you note it: There’s a Parent Code Note for L71 to “Use additional code for adverse effect, if applicable, to identify drug (T36-T50 with fifth or sixth character 5),” according to AAPC’s Codify. Rachel Dorrell, MA, MS, CPC-A, CPPM, Production Editor, AAPC 
