Wiki Type 2 diabetes mellitus with other circulatory complications

[andresgq2013@gmail.com]

Hello, I need to know if there is an specific coding guideline where it's stated that if any patient has any type of Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension, the DM can be coded as complicated because it's associated or linked with hypertension; for example E11.9 Type 2 diabetes mellitus without complication and I10 Essential (primary) hypertension in a patient, then code DM as E11.59 Type 2 diabetes mellitus with other circulatory complications. I will appreciate your answers. Thank you

 

[thomas7331]

The coding guideline governing this can be found in the Chapter 9 guidelines of ICD-10 where it states: For hypertension and conditions not specifically linked by relational terms such as “with,” “associated with” or “due to” in the classification, provider documentation must link the conditions in order to code them as related.

Since none of these terms link hypertension and diabetes in the ICD-10 alphabetic or tabular lists, then it would not be correct to presume that the hypertension is a complication of the diabetes or to code it as E11.59 unless the provider has specifically documented that the hypertension was caused by or related to the diabetes in some way.