Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Question: Our elderly patient has a cat bite infected with cellulitis on her left big toe. We will be providing wound care and antibiotics via PICC line. How should we code for her?

Ohio Subscriber

Answer: Code for this patient as follows:

• M1020a: 893.1 (Open wound of toe[s]; complicated);
• M1022b: 681.10 (Cellulitis and abscess; unspecified; toe); 
• M1022c: V58.81 (Fitting and adjustment of vascular catheter); 
• M1022d: V58.62 (Long-term [current] use of antibiotics);and 
• M1022e: E906.3 (Bite of other animal except arthropod).

You’re providing care for your patient’s infected wound, so your principal diagnosis is 892.1 to describe the complicated wound. List the cellulitis code next to further describe the infection.

Follow this with V58.81 and V58.62 to indicate that you are providing antibiotics through a PICC line.

Finally, you can list optional E code E906.3 to report that the patient’s wound was caused by an animal bite.

In ICD-10 for this patient, you would list:

• M1021a: S91.152D (Open bite, left great toe without damage to nail; subsequent encounter);
• M1023b: L03.032 (Cellulitis of left toe);
• M1023c: Z45.2 (Encounter for adjustment and management of vascular access device);
• M1023d: Z79.2 (Long term [current] use of antibiotics); and
• M1023e: W55.01xD (Bitten by cat; subsequent encounter).