MDS Alert
What Do You Think? Which ICD-9-CM Code Should You Use For Dehydration?
The ICD-9 manual used to have only one catch-all code for volume depletion, which was 276.5. Now, there are three codes:
- 276.50 (Volume depletion, unspecified)
- 276.51 (Dehydration)
- 276.52 (Hypovolemia)
The difference between the codes, says June Bronnert, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, with the American Health Information Association, is the bodily substance depleted. The code 276.51 indicates "a depletion of total body water, while 276.52 (hypovolemia) is a depletion of [the] volume [of] plasma," she says. "Volume depletion is a combination of both conditions (body water and plasma)."Select the proper code based on the provider's documentation. If the provider documented "dehydration," code 276.51, Bronnert advises MDS Alert.
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