Dx code for clearance for military

[karlam]

What diagnosis code would you use when a patient comes in with a history of an injury or previous condition and needs clearance for the military or police? We see many patients with history of fractures or had asthma as a child and needs clearance to join the military or the police academy.

Thanks!

 

[thomas7331]

In these situations, I would recommend using codes from the Z02 category - encounter for administrative examinations - as you first-listed codes. For example:
Z02.1 - Encounter for pre-employment examination
Z02.3 - Encounter for examination for recruitment to armed forces

You can assign history or active disease codes, based on documentation, as additional codes to reflect any problems that are addressed, but since the Z02 codes best reflect the reason for the visit, that should be listed first.

 

[karlam]

In these situations, I would recommend using codes from the Z02 category - encounter for administrative examinations - as you first-listed codes. For example:
Z02.1 - Encounter for pre-employment examination
Z02.3 - Encounter for examination for recruitment to armed forces

You can assign history or active disease codes, based on documentation, as additional codes to reflect any problems that are addressed, but since the Z02 codes best reflect the reason for the visit, that should be listed first.

I agree. I had another coder suggest the Z09 and "history of" code but that just didn't sound right. Thanks!