Cardiology Coding Alert

Question: If the patient has atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter can you code both of these diagnoses together? Or can you only code the more specific code, which would be atrial fibrillation?

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Answer: Atrial fibrillation (A-fib) and atrial flutter are two different conditions. If the documentation indicates that the patient has both, you can report both. However, you will need to check the documentation for more details to know exactly which A-fib and atrial flutter code to report.

A-fib defined: With A-fib, the atria quiver or fibrillate rather than beating normally. Your ICD-10-CM options for A-fib are as follows:

• I48.0 (Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation)
• I48.11 (Longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation)
• I48.19 (Other persistent atrial fibrillation). This code includes chronic persistent atrial fibrillation and persistent atrial fibrillation, NOS.
• I48.20 (Chronic atrial fibrillation, unspecified)
• I48.21 (Permanent atrial fibrillation)
• I48.91 (Unspecified atrial fibrillation)

Atrial flutter defined: With atrial flutter, rapidly fired signals make the muscles in the atria contract quickly, which leads to a fast, steady heartbeat. Your ICD-10-CM options for atrial flutter are as follows:

• I48.3 (Typical atrial flutter). This code includes typical atrial flutter and Type I atrial flutter.
• I48.4 (Atypical atrial flutter). This code includes atypical atrial flutter and Type II atrial flutter.
• I48.92 (Unspecified atrial flutter)

Don’t miss: A-fib and atrial flutter are both examples of tachycardia caused by arrhythmias. Tachycardia occurs when a patient’s heart beats too quickly. Usually, tachycardia is described as a heart rate of over 100 beats a minute at rest.

Tachycardia sometimes has other symptoms as well, such as dizziness, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Common testing for tachycardia includes electrocardiograms (EKGs) and stress tests.