Wiki Urine positive for alcohol ICD code

[lyssa1205]

Hi everyone!

I'm wondering what code to use for positive findings of alcohol (ethyl sulfate metabolites) in urine, not blood? I’m not sure where else to look or what else to use. I'm billing for a pain management practice, and want to use the positive test as support for medication reduction and/or discharge from care, especially when it directly affects the level of billable visit. Thanks in advance for any and all advice!!!

R82.5 Elevated urine levels of drugs, medicaments, and biological substances --- seems promising, but is alcohol considered under the heading of “drugs” in this case? I already use that when the urine is positive for illicit drugs.​

R82.90 Unspecified abnormal findings in urine --- doesn’t seem quite right considering it’s not “unspecified findings”.​

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[thomas7331]

I would not consider alcohol to be a drug in this case as it's not classified that way in any medical documentation that I've ever seen. There's no specific listing in the Alphabetic Index, so I would assign R82.998, which is the index for 'specified substance NEC'.

I'd just caution that these should only be assigned based on physician documentation. Positive test results can't be used for coding unless the physician has confirmed and documented the findings.

 

[lyssa1205]

I would not consider alcohol to be a drug in this case as it's not classified that way in any medical documentation that I've ever seen. There's no specific listing in the Alphabetic Index, so I would assign R82.998, which is the index for 'specified substance NEC'.

I'd just caution that these should only be assigned based on physician documentation. Positive test results can't be used for coding unless the physician has confirmed and documented the findings.

Thank you for your input! And yes, that is one thing my providers always document, thankfully.