Pediatric Coding Alert

Question: My provider diagnosed a teenaged patient with acne rosacea, which I’ve never seen before. I only see codes for acne and codes for rosacea. Which code should I use?

Arkansas Subscriber

Answer: As you already know, acne and rosacea can present similarly, but they are different conditions. That’s why the term “acne rosacea” can be confusing. However, such a condition exists, but ICD-10-CM doesn’t have a specific code for it.

Acne rosacea is more commonly known as papulopustular rosacea. It’s a type of rosacea characterized by pustules that resemble acne. There is no specific code for this type of rosacea. When you look up “Acne” in the Alphabetic Index, you’ll see instructions to code the condition with L71.9 (Rosacea, unspecified). However, when you look up “rosacea” in the index, it also lists L71.9, but directs you to L71.8 (other rosacea) for types of rosacea that are specified but not elsewhere classified (NEC). It is always best to code to the highest specificity. Because this type of rosacea was specified, there just isn’t a code for it, L71.8 is the best choice.