Pathology/Lab Coding Alert
Identify Drug-Resistant Infections
Minnesota Subscriber
Answer: Your experience matches epidemiological reports that show an increase in drug-resistant staph infections across North America. While you have to report the most specific ICD-9 code for the organism you identify, that alone is not enough. You need to apply an additional code to indicate the drug resistance of the strain.
When you identify methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), you should report 041.11 (Staphylococcus aureus) and V09.0 (Infection with drug-resistant microorganisms; infection with microorganisms resistant to penicillins ). ICD-9 specifically lists MRSA as an example of this code. A text note explains that you should use the V09-category codes in addition to the code that classifies the infectious condition.
Pathology/Lab Coding Alert
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