Wiki Chronic Hypertension vs Hypertention

[ZoesMom]

Hello,

If the diagnosis states CHTN in either a regular patient or a patient whom is pregnant, I was told to code it as Pre-existing Hypertension. However, when my Labor & Delivery Triage and OB Ultrasounds were audited, the Auditor stated unless it states pre-existing that it is coded as unspecified HTN. In researching this, I have found that it is pre-existing and if a pregnant woman develops it before 20 weeks of pregnancy ( this is a little confusing). Can anyone help or guide me to another reference to find the answer.
Thank you,
Barbara

 

[Munzueta]

Ok let me start by providing the definition.

Chronic hypertension in pregnancy is defined by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) as blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg systolic and/or 90 mm Hg diastolic before pregnancy or, in recognition that many women seek medical care only once pregnant, before 20 weeks of gestation, use of antihypertensive medications before pregnancy, or persistence of hypertension for >12 weeks after delivery.1
Source - https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.003904

Women who have hypertension before pregnancy will continue to have this condition during pregnancy. When a woman has pre-existing hypertension or develops hypertension before the 20th week of pregnancy, this is called chronic hypertension.
Source - https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medi...health/pregnancy-and-high-blood-pressure.html

Chronic hypertension is usually used often by providers to describe a pre-existing hypertension. Here in our facility, we code CHTN to pre-existing and there has not been any issues. Unless your auditor presents a specific guideline for pre-existing hypertension not being define as chronic hypertension, then i really would not go with unspecified. Also, what does your provider(s) say about that? Do they agree?

Let me know if this helps!