ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: Our ED provider recently saw an elderly patient who had a cat bite infected with cellulitis on her left big toe. We provided wound care and antibiotics via PICC line. How should we code for this encounter?

Ohio Subscriber

Answer: You’ll want to report the following codes for this ED encounter:

• S91.152D (Open bite of left great toe without damage to nail, subsequent encounter)
• L03.032 (Cellulitis of left toe)
• Z45.2 (Encounter for adjustment and management of vascular access device)
• Z79.2 (Long term [current] use of antibiotics)
• W55.01xD (Bitten by cat, subsequent encounter)

You’re providing care for your patient’s infected wound, so your principal diagnosis is S91.152D to describe the complicated wound. List the cellulitis code next to further describe the infection. Follow this with Z45.2 and Z79.2 to indicate that you are providing antibiotics through a PICC line.

Finally, you can list optional W code W55.01xD to report that the patient’s wound was caused by an animal bite.