Complaint: Pt presents with chronic right foot ulcer that is painful and non-healing.
Exam: Right foot with stage 2-3 non-healing plantar ulcer. Has partial left foot amputation. (No further description provided.)
Assessment: 1. Diabetes. 2. Foot ulcer. Cleaned and dressed wound. Referral to wound clinic.
Questions:
Am I correct to code this as a diabetic ulcer; that is, diabetes with foot ulcer, E11.621. (Provider does not seem to link the two conditions, but they are, right?)
When I code the additional code for foot ulcer, how do I translate his "stage 2-3" to the correct degree of severity under L97.51x? (Does L97.512 mean stage 2, and L97.513 mean stage 3, etc.?) I've been researching as best I can and can't seem to find a definitive answer to this.)
Which is correct for the foot ulcer--
L97.41x for "heel and midfoot" OR
L97.51x for "other part of foot" ? (I'm thinking this one since he does not specifically state heel or midfoot, agree?)
Thank you in advance for bearing with all these questions and for your help!
Exam: Right foot with stage 2-3 non-healing plantar ulcer. Has partial left foot amputation. (No further description provided.)
Assessment: 1. Diabetes. 2. Foot ulcer. Cleaned and dressed wound. Referral to wound clinic.
Questions:
Am I correct to code this as a diabetic ulcer; that is, diabetes with foot ulcer, E11.621. (Provider does not seem to link the two conditions, but they are, right?)
When I code the additional code for foot ulcer, how do I translate his "stage 2-3" to the correct degree of severity under L97.51x? (Does L97.512 mean stage 2, and L97.513 mean stage 3, etc.?) I've been researching as best I can and can't seem to find a definitive answer to this.)
Which is correct for the foot ulcer--
L97.41x for "heel and midfoot" OR
L97.51x for "other part of foot" ? (I'm thinking this one since he does not specifically state heel or midfoot, agree?)
Thank you in advance for bearing with all these questions and for your help!
Last edited by a moderator: