ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: When a patient exhibits signs of depression, but the physician does not diagnose depression, which ICD-9 codes should I use? The physician recently treated a patient whose father just died. She had insomnia and was not eating much, but the physician did not think the patient met the parameters for depressive disorder.

Missouri Subscriber

Answer: Without a definitive diagnosis from the doctor, you-ll want the diagnosis coding to reflect the patient's signs and symptoms.

On your claim, report 307.42 (Persistent disorder of initiating or maintaining sleep) to represent the patient's insomnia and 783.0 (Anorexia) to represent the patient's appetite loss.

Reader Questions and You Be the Coder reviewed by Michael A. Granovsky, MD, CPC, FACEP, president of MRSI, an ED coding and billing company in Woburn, Mass.