Reader Question:
Pregnancy Test Diagnosis
Published on Wed Aug 01, 2001
Question: When a patient presents for a pregnancy test, we always use V72.4 (pregnancy examination or test, pregnancy unconfirmed). Is this correct?
Idaho Subscriber
Answer: V72.4 is used when, at the end of the visit, you still do not know that she has a positive pregnancy test (that is, when you are not performing the color visualization test, 81025 [urine pregnancy test, by visual color comparison methods]). The ICD-9 book clearly states that you should be coding V22.0 (supervision of normal first pregnancy) or V22.1 (supervision of other normal pregnancy) if there is immediate confirmation.
If you send the test out or do an hCG test (84702 [gonadotropin, chorionic (hCG); quantitative] or 84703 [... qualitative]), V72.4 is the correct code. Use 626.0 (amenorrhea) when the patient has not had a period in six months after having previously had normal menses or she has not had one in three months for women who have oligomenorrhea (meaning periods are more than 35 days apart). A missed period is coded as 626.8 (disorders of menstruation and other abnormal bleeding from female genital tract; other).
