Question: My physician documented resistant hypertension. How should I report this? Oregon Subscriber Answer: It’s no surprise that this has you puzzled. One of the 2024 ICD-10 updates included a whole new category for hypertension: I1A- (Other hypertension). Under this category, you gained new code I1A.0 (Resistant hypertension), which is the appropriate code to use in your scenario. This code also includes apparent treatment resistant hypertension, treatment resistant hypertension, and true resistant hypertension. Per the ICD-10 guidelines, resistant hypertension refers to the blood pressure of a patient with hypertension that remains above goal despite the use of antihypertensive medications.
Coding alert: Pay attention to the Code first note with I1A.0 instructing you to first report the specific type of existing hypertension, if known, such as essential (I10) or secondary hypertension (I15.-).