Primary Care Coding Alert
Reader Questions:
Go Outside Viral Infection Codes for Primary Dx
Published on Mon Apr 19, 2021
Question: Can ICD-10 codes for bacterial and viral infectious agents ever be used as primary diagnoses? AAPC Forum Participant. Answer: The instruction that accompanies the B95-B97 (Bacterial and viral infectious agents) codes tell you that “these categories are provided for use as supplementary or additional codes to identify the infectious agent(s) in diseases classified elsewhere.” So, you would never use a code from this range as a primary diagnosis. If a provider documents the infection only, and does not document a specific disease, then you should use a different code such as A49.8 (Other bacterial infections of unspecified site) or A49.9 (Bacterial infection, unspecified).
Related Articles
Other Articles in this issue of
Primary Care Coding Alert
- News You Can Use:
Get Greater E/M Clarity With These AMA Rulings
Recent updates shed more light on the 2021 office/outpatient E/M revisions. If you missed the [...] - Condition Spotlight:
Don’t Be Rash Coding These Summer Scenarios
Do you have what it takes to beat the coding heat? Summer’s here again, but [...] - Mythbusters:
Bust These 4 Myths for Precision RPM Coding
And be aware of the ways the 2021 final rule changed RPM services. Remote physiologic [...] - You Be the Coder:
Don’t Risk Level Calculations by Turning These Tables
Question: Both the Elements of Medical Decision Making (MDM) table in the 2021 CPT® Manual [...] - Reader Questions:
Provide These Modifiers for MNT Counseling
Question: We are getting a denial on 97803 saying that it needs a modifier. What [...] - Reader Questions:
Fold E/M Into TCM on First F2F Encounter
Question: One of our patients was discharged from a local hospital and enrolled in transitional [...] - Reader Questions:
Go Outside Viral Infection Codes for Primary Dx
Question: Can ICD-10 codes for bacterial and viral infectious agents ever be used as primary diagnoses? [...]
View All
