OASIS Alert

When choosing diagnosis codes for diabetic patients, can you sometimes use more than one 250 code?

Yes. If a patient has multiple manifestations, agencies should code for each one, explains consultant Joan Usher with JLU Health Record Systems in Pembroke, MA. This means you will sometimes use more than one 250 code, she says. The fourth and fifth digits are different in each one, though, to represent a different condition. Remember to list the most acute condition first and then work your way toward the least acute when you use multiple 250 codes, she adds.