Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Look for Simpler Hypertension Coding in ICD-10

Coding for hypertension in ICD-10 remains much the same as it is in ICD-9. Give yourself a refresher in current best practices for coding this condition and you'll be well on your way to mastering the steps for ICD-10 hypertension coding.

Primary/Essential Hypertension: 401.xx/I10

To code for primary hypertension in ICD-9, you'll first need to determine whether the hypertension is malignant, benign, or unspecified.

Most hypertension is considered primary or essential hypertension, and in ICD-9, it's coded with a 401.x (Essential hypertension) category code.

The fourth digit for 401.x codes indicates whether the hypertension is malignant, benign, or unspecified:

• 401.0 (Essential hypertension, malignant);
• 401.1 (Essential hypertension, benign); or
• 401.9 (Essential hypertension, unspecified).

In ICD-10, you no longer need to specify whether primary hypertension is malignant, benign, or unspecified. As a result, the hypertension table, found in the Alphabetic Index in ICD-9 isn't included in ICD-10. All primary hypertension is reported with the same code: I10 (Essential [primary] hypertension).