Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Question: When we provide Coumadin® to a patient for deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), should we code this condition as "current" or "history of"?

North Dakota Subscriber

Answer: The answer is "it depends." The deciding factor is whether the patient still has the DVT. Some patients with DVT are treated at home rather in the hospital to break down the clot. But other patients have been successfully treated at the hospital and are on Coumadin prophylactically. Coumadin is used to both treat and prevent DVT.

Ask the physician to find out if the DVT is still present, and code accordingly. Patients who have DVT should be assessed more frequently for signs and symptoms of embolism, including pulmonary embolism (PE).