Primary Care Coding Alert

Question:Our physician treated a soft-tissue infection on a patient's finger. Which diagnosis code should we report for this?Maine SubscriberAnswer: The correct choice depends on the type of infection -- and ICD-9 includes a number of specific options. If the physician described cellulitis to the skin on the finger, you should report one of the following codes: 681.00 (Cellulitis and abscess of finger and toe; finger; cellulitis and abscess, unspecified), 681.01 (... felon), 681.02 (... Onychia and paronychia of finger).If the physician treated an infection to a soft tissue other than the skin, you could report 728.89 (Other disorders of muscle, ligament, and fascia; other).If the infection is bacterial in nature, you should use a code from the 041.xx series (Bacterial infection in conditions classified elsewhere and of unspecified site) as a secondary diagnosis to indicate the nature of the infection.And, if the infection is of unknown origin or cannot be classified [...]