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Pulmonology Coding Alert

ICD-10 Update:

Shift to J Codes for Better Specificity For Emphysema

Published on Mon Jul 23, 2012

Hint: Exclusions remains the same as in ICD-9 codesYou regularly see patients for shortness of breath, so knowing how to handle dx coding once ICD-10 comes into play will be vital. There are many different conditions that can cause shortness of breath (dyspnea) and one such is emphysema (one type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease " COPD). Review These Symptoms and Diagnostic Test DetailsWhen your pulmonologist diagnoses emphysema, you will probably see some of these symptoms that he will note in the patient charts: chronic shortness of breath (R06.02, Shortness of breath) that is gradually increasing over a period of time; an expanded chest (barrel chest); tachypnea (rapid breathing); and cough (R05, Cough) with sputum production.Upon auscultation, you pulmonologist will observe hyperresonant breath sounds. There might also be signs of cyanosis.Your pulmonologist will order a chest x-ray and blood tests (to check WBC counts and to check for alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency) [...]
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