Pediatric Coding Alert

Question: For an electrocardiogram (ECG) (93000-93010, Electrocardiogram, routine ECG with at least 12 leads ...) done to monitor medication (stimulant, antipsychotic), should I use ICD-10 code T43.605S?

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Answer: No, because T43.605S (Adverse effect of unspecified psychostimulants, sequela) suggests that the patient is having an adverse reaction to the medication, and you haven’t indicated that your patient is having any side effects—only that you are monitoring for them.

You should instead use Z79.899 (Other long term [current] drug therapy), which is for monitoring of other medications. Some payers may want you to also use a diagnosis code to represent the reason why the patient is on the medication -- for instance, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (F90.1).