ICD-9 QUIZ:
Code the Story of Your Patient's Life
Published on Thu Nov 23, 2006
Can you find the diagnosis codes in this patient's history? Sometimes it may seem as if there's an ICD-9 code for everything, but it can be difficult to find the one you-re looking for when you need it. Grab your ICD-9 manual and test your coding skills by filling in the codes for this life story. The answers appear below the quiz.
My life began on a sunny November morning when I was born to my wonderful parents. Shortly after my birth, I was diagnosed with shoulder subluxation (Dx 1: _____) and neonatal brachial plexus palsy (Dx 2: __).
I was an avid tree climber as a child, and I fell out of a tree once (E code Dx 3:____), which caused a Colles fracture (Dx 4: _____) and a closed tibia shaft fracture (Dx 5: ___).
I got my first job at the age of 17, when I worked as a house painter. I fell off a ladder one day (E code
Dx 6: ____) and broke my collar bone (Dx 7:_____). After I healed from that, I stayed away from heights and went to college on a tennis scholarship. After three years of daily tennis playing, I experienced tennis elbow (Dx 8: _____) and rotator cuff tendinitis (Dx 9: _____).
Ever since I graduated from college, I haven't had too much time for sports, so now I walk for exercise and garden on the weekends for leisure. Kneeling in the garden has exacerbated osteoarthritis in my knees (Dx 10: ___). The doctor also said I should start taking calcium supplements because he thinks I have the early signs of osteoporosis (Dx 11: ____).
Review the answers to our ICD-9 coding quiz to see how well you scored in matching the patient's history to the most appropriate ICD-9 codes. Answers Diagnosis code 1: 755.59 (Other anomalies of upper limb, including shoulder girdle; other) or 767.3 (Other injuries to skeleton due to birth trauma), depending on the documentation.
Diagnosis code 2: 767.6 (Injury to brachial plexus due to birth trauma)
Diagnosis code 3: E884.9 (Fall from tree)
Diagnosis code 4: 813.41 (Colles- fracture, closed)
Diagnosis code 5: 823.20 (Fracture of tibia and fibula; shaft, closed; tibia alone)
Diagnosis code 6: E881.0 (Accidental falls; fall on or from ladders or scaffolding; fall from ladder).
Diagnosis code 7: 810.02 (Fracture of clavicle;closed; shaft of clavicle)
Diagnosis code 8: 726.32 (Lateral epicondylitis)
Diagnosis code 9: 726.11 (Calcifying tendinitis of shoulder)
Diagnosis code 10: 715.36 (Osteoarthrosis, localized, not specified whether primary or secondary; lower leg)
Diagnosis code 11: 733.00 (Osteoporosis, unspecified) Note: Remember that E codes, such as E881.0, are supplemental codes only, and you should not use them as primary diagnoses.