Wiki Do you bill other diagnostic symptoms with the diagnosis of ICD10 I21.4.

[sharnericksn]

I was doing a practice exam and the patient was sent to the ER for symptoms of dizziness, chest pain and short of breath. The provider diagnosed the patient with ICD 10 code I21.4 Non-ST elevation myocardial infraction. My thought is we would no code the symptoms. I would like to better understand why the symptoms were also coded? Thank you

 

[xXxPARAGONxXx]

I was doing a practice exam and the patient was sent to the ER for symptoms of dizziness, chest pain and short of breath. The provider diagnosed the patient with ICD 10 code I21.4 Non-ST elevation myocardial infraction. My thought is we would no code the symptoms. I would like to better understand why the symptoms were also coded? Thank you

Interesting. I would not code any of those symptoms if indeed the provider specified the diagnosis as I21.4. Reason is simple: dizziness, chest pain, and shortness of breath are all symptoms of a myocardial infarction.

According to AAPC 2024 ICD-10-CM Expert, p. G5,

5. Conditions that are an integral part of a disease process

Signs and symptoms that are associated routinely with a disease process should not be assigned as additional codes, unless otherwise instructed by the classification.

I’d have to assume the practice exam is wrong.