# Need ICD for Hypertensive Emergency



## anuja.devasthali (Mar 26, 2012)

Hi Friends,

Please help me with this !

I could not get the ICD-9 CM for hypertensive emergency. 

Do we have to consider it as Malignant hypertension or elevated BP.


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## veeramani14 (Mar 26, 2012)

I prefer 401.0.


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## srinivas r sajja (Mar 26, 2012)

crisis - hypertension - leads to see-hypertension.
urgency- hypetension - leads to hypertension.


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## mitchellde (Mar 26, 2012)

you cannot use 401.0 based on the wording of hypertensive emergency the physician must stated malignant, otherwise all hypertension codes to 401.9


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## anuja.devasthali (Mar 27, 2012)

*hypertensive emergency*

I have one more doubt. ICD 401.0 is also used for accelarated hypertension ( Suddenly elevated blood pressure ) which can most appropriately represents hypertensive emergency. So why shouldn't 401.0 and only 401.9 ?


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## mitchellde (Mar 27, 2012)

Because we cannot assume we know a diagnosis.  The provider did not say the patient has malignant hypertension so we do not assign this dx.  The dx is the patient's not ours and we are the physician.  If the provider does not render a dx that allows us to code a certain, we cannot read into it what we want in order to get the dx code we feel is more appropriate.


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