Pediatric Coding Alert

You Be the Coder:

Is 'Personal History' Different Than 'Family History?'

Question:

My understanding has been that I cannot bill for "family history of" a condition. I recently read some advice about billing for "personal history of." I realize these aren't exactly the same, but would like to clarify whether these are valid diagnoses.

Answer:

The "V" codes for family history are perfectly good, billable codes; you should report them when pertinent to the encounter. However, some payers will not reimburse for all V codes listed as the primary code on the claim.

Caution: It's never correct to use a "personal history of" code instead of a "family history of" code just in hopes of getting paid. "Personal history" means that the patient has a history of a certain condition (such as V12.04 [Personal history of methicillin-reisistant staphylococcus aureus, MRSA]). These V codes are also great codes and often very important to the encounter -- but, as noted, some payers don't generally reimburse for V codes if they are the first code listed. Also note that some personal history codes (such as V14.0, Personal history of allergy to medicinal agents; penicillin) are secondary diagnosis codes only. It is still the correct way to code for the encounter when there is not another primary diagnosis.

Other Articles in this issue of

Pediatric Coding Alert

View All