Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

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Practices that are starting to see cases of "swine flu" -- technically known as the H1N1 virus -- may be struggling to find diagnosis codes to fit the illness. A new revision to the ICD-9 code set cures that, effective Oct. 1. In addition, you'll also find a specific code that describes avian flu.

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics announced two addenda to the ICD-9 code set, as follows:

"As part of the 2009 Addenda for ICD-9-CM, an expansion has been made changing the three digit code 488 to a category, with two new codes added: 488.0 (Influenza due to identified avian influenza virus), and 488.1 (Influenza due to identified novel H1N1 influenza virus). These codes have been created to provide data capture for the novel H1N1 influenza virus (swine flu virus), which was first identified in April, after the March 2009 ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting," the CDC indicates on its Web site.