Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

Question: What is the difference between these two diagnoses: 079.4 and 795.05? The pathologist usually codes Pap smears that are ASCUS and HPV positive with 795.01, 079.4. I have been using 795.01, 795.05. Who is correct?

New Hampshire Subscriber

Answer: According to ICD-9 rules, you are correct, and the pathologist is incorrect. Code 795.05 (Cervical high-risk human papillomavirus [HPV] DNA test positive) is the more descriptive code due to it being a finding based on a Pap smear. This code is very specific to the type of HPV the patient has.

You would use the code for HPV (079.4, Viral and chlamydial infection in conditions classified elsewhere and of unspecified site; human papillomavirus) once the patient was being actively treated for the condition.

ICD-10: When your diagnosis coding system changes in 2013, 795.05 will become R87.810 (Cervical high risk human papillomavirus [HPV] DNA test positive). Also, code 079.4 will become B97.7 (Papillomavirus as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere).