# high blood pressure



## suoyj (Nov 5, 2009)

If a doctors states that a patient has high blood pressure but they are on a med do you code it as hypertension 401.9 or as high blood pressure 796.2.

Does someone have something in black and white to confirm which way this is to be coded?


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## LTibbetts (Nov 6, 2009)

I would be inclined to use the 401.9 because of the medications the patient is on, but you would be better off querying the provider to make sure that the official dx is HTN. In a perfect world, the providers would also specify benign or malignant but that rarely happens where I work.


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## handmaid (Nov 9, 2009)

FYI, if you index:
High, blood pressure, you get 401.9 now.


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## mitchellde (Nov 9, 2009)

From the Coding Guidelines:

11)
Elevated Blood Pressure
For a statement of elevated blood pressure without further specificity, assign code 796.2, Elevated blood pressure reading without diagnosis of hypertension, rather than a code from category 401

Just because HTN meds are prscribed does not mean the patient has HTN it could be a trial the physician has started to see how the patient reacts.


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## Anna Weaver (Nov 9, 2009)

handmaid said:


> FYI, if you index:
> High, blood pressure, you get 401.9 now.



You do get 401.9, but also indented below it is the incidental reading (isolated, nonspecific), no diagnosis of hypertension 796.2. So you do have to still be careful of this diagnosis and make sure the Dr. indicates hypertension before you code it. Just an FYI.


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