Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Question: Encounter notes indicate that a patient suffers from “meningitis due to hemo flu.” I have no idea how to choose an ICD-10 code for this condition. Can you help?

Arizona Subscriber

Answer: The note indicates that the patient suffered from hemophilus meningitis, which you will report with G00.0 (Hemophilus meningitis). The code is for patients who are suffering from meningitis as a result of the Hemophilus influenzae bacteria type B (hib).

There are several types of meningitis represented in the G00.- (Bacterial meningitis, not elsewhere classified) code set — and they can be difficult to keep track of.

If the patient’s meningitis is caused by Streptococcal pneumoniae bacterium (pneumococcus), you would report G00.1 (Pneumococcal meningitis). This is confusing, because streptococcal isn’t included in the descriptor for this code.

If the meningitis is caused by pneumococcus Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus), you would report G00.2 (Streptococcal meningitis). If it is caused by Staphylococcus bacteria, report G00.3 (Staphylococcal meningitis).

With G00.2 and G00.3, you’ll also need to use an additional code to further identify the organism: For G00.2, choose among the B95.0 (Streptococcus, group A, as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere) through B95.5 (Unspecified streptococcus as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere) codes; for G00.3, choose among the B95.61 (Methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infection as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere) through B95.8 (Unspecified staphylococcus as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere) code set.

From there, the codes in G00.- get a little nebulous. You’ll report G00.8 (Other bacterial meningitis) to represent the following meningitis types:

• Meningitis due to Escherichia coli
• Meningitis due to Friedländer’s bacillus
• Meningitis due to Klebsiella

When you report G00.8, be sure to use an additional code from the B96.- (Other bacterial agents as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere) code set to further identify the organism causing the condition.

If you see any of the terms below in your meningitis notes, look to report G00.9 (Bacterial meningitis, unspecified):

• Meningitis due to gram-negative bacteria, unspecified
• Purulent meningitis NOS
• Pyogenic meningitis NOS
• Suppurative meningitis NOS.

Chris Boucher, MS, CPC, Senior Development Editor, AAPC