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Pulmonology Coding Alert

ICD-10 Update:

Shift to J Codes With Minor Descriptor Changes For Pyothorax

Published on Thu May 24, 2012

Tip: Watch for fistula as in the ICD-9 codes.Your work as a pulmonology coder might expose you to see a number of different infections of the lungs and the pleural cavity, leading to a diagnosis of pyothorax (empyema). For this reason, you need to be well informed about how to report pyothorax (empyema) when ICD 10 codes come into effect.When your pulmonologist makes a diagnosis of pyothorax (empyema), you will often see the following in the documentation of the patient:Symptoms such as fever (R50.9, Fever, unspecified); cough (R05, Cough); shortness of breath (R06.02, Shortness of breath); pain in the area of the chest (R07.1, Chest pain on breathing); and sweating (R61, Generalized hyperhidrosis).Your pulmonologist will order for a chest x-ray or a CT scan of the chest to check what is causing the symptoms as well as ascertain the changes in breath sounds that he will encounter during examination of [...]
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