Otolaryngology Coding Alert

Question: Concerning the coding of acute bronchospasm (519.11), when is it appropriate to simply report 786.07 for wheezing?

Wisconsin Subscriber

Answer: The best code for wheezing or what physicians call wheezing associated respiratory illness (WARI) is 519.11 (Acute bronchospasm).Although 786.07 (Wheezing) states -wheezing,- the code refers to narrowing of respiratory passages. Code 519.11 is more specific for bronchospasm.

Physicians use the diagnosis of WARI for patients who don't meet the criteria for a diagnosis of asthma. An example of WARI is a child with an upper respiratory infection (URI) who has his first episode of associated wheezing and requires treatment of bronchospasm. This would typically not warrant labeling a child with -asthma,- using ICD-9 code 493.02 (Extrinsic asthma; with [acute] exacerbation).

Answers to You Be the Coder and Reader Questions provided/reviewed by Barbara J. Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC-OTO, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CHCC, president of CRN Healthcare Solutions in Tinton Falls, N.J.