ICD 10 Coding Alert

Reader Questions:

You May Need to Apply this Dx After the Fact

Question: Our pulmonologist saw a patient in the hospital who had a suspected case of COVID-19, and we treated the patient for a collapsed lung. We found out after the patient had been discharged that he had indeed tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Which diagnosis code do we report?

Arizona Subscriber

Answer: You’ll use the COVID-19 code as your primary diagnosis, followed for the appropriate code that describes the collapsed lung, such as J98.11 (Atelectasis). Although your pulmonologist was primarily treating the collapsed lung and didn’t know for sure at the time that the patient had a positive case of COVID-19, the patient did ultimately test positive for the disease, and therefore the coronavirus code should be placed in the primary position.

“If a test is performed during the visit or hospitalization, but results come back after discharge positive for COVID-19, then it should be coded as confirmed COVID-19,” the AHA says in its FAQs.