Practice Management Alert

Question: I would like to know the correct coding for malfunctioning of a Porta catheter. I have been using V58.81. I wanted to know if there was a better or more specific code. Washington Subscriber Answer: This is considered either a -complication- or -malfunction- of the device, but there are different types of complications. Check your physician's documentation and choose one of the following: - 996.1 -- Mechanical complication of other vascular device, implant, and graft - 996.62--Infection and inflammatory reaction due to vascular device, implant, and graft (requires an additional code to specify the infection, such as sepsis) - 996.74 -- Other complications of internal (biological) (synthetic) prosthetic device, implant, and graft, due to vascular device, implant, and graft - 999.31 -- Other infection due to central venous catheter (requires an additional code to specify the infection, such as sepsis) Once you select the correct primary code from those listed above, the [...]