Primary Care Coding Alert

Can you find the diagnosis codes in this patient's history?

Sometimes it may seem as if there's an ICD-9 code for everything, but it can be difficult to find the one you-re looking for when you need it.

My life began when I was born to my wonderful parents, both of whom now suffer from diabetes (V code Dx1: _______). When I was 14 months old, I was diagnosed with a narrowed ear canal (Dx 2: ______) due to repeated ear infections (Dx3: _____) and the doctor inserted tubes into my ears.

I was an avid tree climber as a child, and I fell out of a tree once (E code Dx 4:_______), which caused me to break my collar bone (Dx 5: ______). Following the fall, I suffered occasional tinnitus in my right ear (Dx 6: ____), but the symptoms went away after a few months. 

I got my first job at the age of 17, when I worked at a deli. I cut the lunchmeat too closely one afternoon and cut off the tip of my right index finger (Dx 7: ________). About a week later, I suffered a skin infection at the amputation site (Dx 8:______).

After I healed from that, I stayed away from sharp objects and went to college on a tennis scholarship. After three years of daily tennis playing, I experienced tennis elbow (Dx 9: ________) and rotator cuff tendinitis (Dx 10: _________).

Ever since I graduated from college, I haven't had too much time for sports, so now I walk for exercise and garden on the weekends for leisure. Kneeling in the garden has exacerbated osteoarthritis in my knees (Dx 11: ____). The doctor also said I should start taking calcium supplements because he thinks I have the early signs of osteoporosis (Dx 12: _____).

Review the answers to our coding quiz to see how well you scored:

Answers

Dx 1: V18.0 (Family history of diabetes mellitus)

Dx 2: 380.53 (Acquired stenosis of external ear canal; secondary to inflammation)

Dx 3: 381.01 (Nonsuppurative otitis media and Eustachian tube disorders; acute serous otitis media) or 382.00 (Acute suppurative otitis media without spontaneous rupture of ear drum)

Dx 4: E884.9 (Fall from tree)

Dx 5: 810.02 (Fracture of clavicle; closed; shaft of clavicle)

Dx 6: 388.30 (Tinnitus, unspecified)

Dx 7: 886.0 (Traumatic amputation of other finger[s] [complete] [partial]; without mention of complication)

Dx 8: 686.9 (Unspecified local infection of skin and subcutaneous tissue)

Dx 9: 726.32 (Lateral epicondylitis)

Dx 10: 726.10 (Disorders of bursae and tendons in shoulder region, unspecified)

Dx 11: 715.36 (Osteoarthrosis, localized, not specified whether primary or secondary; lower leg)

Dx 12: 733.00 (Osteoporosis, unspecified).

Note: Remember that E Codes are supplemental codes only, and you should not use them as primary diagnoses.