Pulmonology Coding Alert
5th Digits Help Your ICD-9 Coding Specificity
North Dakota Subscriber
Answer: You should report 493.9x (Asthma, unspecified) for allergic asthma not otherwise specified (no specific antigen identified), and 493.0x (Extrinsic asthma) when the physician identifies a specific antigen (e.g., ragweed, platinum or other antigen) as the cause of the patient's asthma.
You should add a fifth digit depending on the activity of the asthma where "0" stands for unspecified (stable) status, "1" indicates status asthmaticus (acute severe asthma), and "2" represents acute exacerbation not causing acute severe asthma.
ICD-9 does not include a specific code for reactive airways disease because you should report 493.9 with a "0" fifth digit to indicate an unspecified asthmatic condition.
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