Primary Care Coding Alert

ICD-10 will replace 034.0 with 3 detailed options.

Charts for strep throat -- in adults and children -- cross your desk on a regular basis, so you'd better be sure you assign the correct diagnosis. Check out these new coding options when ICD-10 goes into effect in October 2013.

The current ICD-9 diagnosis code is 034.0 (Streptococcal sore throat). ICD-10 will differentiate between Streptococcal pharyngitis and Streptococcal tonsillitis:

• J02.0 -- Streptococcal pharyngitis
• J03.00 -- Acute streptococcal tonsillitis, unspecified
• J03.01 -- Acute recurrent streptococcal tonsillitis.

Changes: Physicians will need to be more detailed in their documentation of Streptococcal infection by specifying pharyngitis versus tonsillitis, and acute unspecified versus acute recurrent with respect to streptococcal tonsillitis. You'll also find the Streptococcal diagnoses in a different section of ICD-10. ICD-9 lists Streptococcal sore throat in the Infectious and Parasitic Diseases section, Other Bacterial Diseases subsection. ICD-10 lists the condition in the Diseases of the Respiratory System section, Acute Upper Respiratory Infections subsection.