Wiki Flank "region" falls into upr/lwer "quadrants"

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Birdie625

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Hi - provider says RT flank pain. Looking at anatomical plates, the flank "region" falls into both the upper and lower "quadrants". As provider says RT flank, I want to code both RT upr/lwr quads. Using R10.9 ("unspec" abd pain) seems inaccurate as he is being more specific. Providers document "flank" and it is up to 'me' to know the area for which they speak of. Would it be correct to code both upr/lwr quad, or use Unspec if "they" do not specify the exact quad level? Thanks in advance.
 
Birdie625 said:
Hi - provider says RT flank pain. Looking at anatomical plates, the flank "region" falls into both the upper and lower "quadrants". As provider says RT flank, I want to code both RT upr/lwr quads. Using R10.9 ("unspec" abd pain) seems inaccurate as he is being more specific. Providers document "flank" and it is up to 'me' to know the area for which they speak of. Would it be correct to code both upr/lwr quad, or use Unspec if "they" do not specify the exact quad level? Thanks in advance.
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You can only code from what the provider has said - a coder can't make interpretations beyond what's documented. Per the coding guidelines, 'flank pain' is coded as 'abdominal pain', and since there is no specific code for simply right or left abdominal pain, if the provider hasn't specified the quadrant and hasn't documented either 'upper' or 'lower', then you can only use R10.9.
 
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