Wiki Anesthesiologist Diagnosis codes

[rstotts]

I am coding for an anesthesiologist (professional coding) and wonder if anyone knows what ICD-9 guidelines we use for the post-procedure diagnoses? Since every note stands alone, are we allowed to use the surgeon's final diagnoses (from the operative report or discharge summary with a different date of service when the procedure is done as an in-patient)?

Can we request the anesthiologist to document "see surgeon's final diagnosis" on the post-procedure diagnoses portion of their report? And if so, can we then use this diagnosis? Thanks for any help anyone can give.

 

[lblandin]

Anesthesiologist dx codes

I have worked in the anesthesia field for years, and in my experience, there are no solid rules for diagnosis coding for anesthesiologists. It is fine to use the surgeon's final diagnosis, but the problem is that the anesthesiologists don't always get that information right away. As long as it's documented properly in the anesthesiolgist's notes, pre-procedure or post-procedure diagnoses are fine. I hope this helps.