Cardiology Coding Alert

Do you know what 'omit code' means for benign murmurs?When details are lacking for a patient's heart murmur, ICD-9 offers you a single code. But ICD-10 will add one more option for you to consider.ICD-9-CM Code: 785.2, Undiagnosed cardiac murmursICD-10-CM Codes:R01.0, Benign and innocent cardiac murmursR01.1, Cardiac murmur, unspecifiedA cardiac murmur refers to abnormal heart sounds caused by turbulent blood. The murmur itself is not a disease, but it may indicate an underlying problem.ICD-9 coding rules: An inclusion note with 785.2 instructs that the code is appropriate for "Heart murmur NOS" (not otherwise specified). Interestingly, if you search the ICD-9 index, under the "Murmur" entry, you'll discover the note "omit code" for benign, functional, innocent, insignificant, Still's, or vibratory murmurs. This language was added to make it clear that you shouldn't report an ICD-9 code for benign murmurs on your claim. ICD-10 changes: ICD-10 includes a code specific to benign [...]