Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Question: Our physical therapist went to see a patient for vertigo. The patient also has hypertension, a pacemaker, and a shunt in the brain. Can we code for these other conditions or just the vertigo because that's all we're addressing with therapy?

Answer: Vertigo is a symptom of another condition. In your patient's case, the reason he has the shunt or the presence of the shunt itself could be causing the vertigo.

You need to query the physician as to the cause of the vertigo. Also, list codes for the hypertension, 401.X (Essential hypertension); V45.01 (Other postprocedural states; cardiac pacemaker) for pacemaker status; the reason for the pacemaker; and the reason for the shunt in the brain. These are all conditions that may impact the patient's care and so should be reported.