# Morbid Obesity and Pneumatic Compression Devices



## katcoder (Dec 27, 2012)

Patient has a bariatric exclusion for morbid obesity (ICD-9 278.01) on their health care plan.  Patient paid cash for their bariatric surgery. However, patient is getting DME (foot pump E0650) post-op surgery to prevent DVTs. The patient, who has hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, is at high risk for DVTs. It is my understanding that we code to the CPT and because the patient meets medical policy criteria, we still bill insurance and get reimbursed for foot pump. Do I have to use the exclusion ICD-9 278.01 code as the primary code like her bariatric surgery, or can I use hypertension, diabetes or heart disease as primary ICD-9.


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## Joe_coder07 (Dec 28, 2012)

It is better to use hypertension, diabetes or heart disease as primary ICD-9 for payment purpose.


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