Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: A 50-year-old patient came into our pulmonology practice presenting with breathing difficulties and chest tightness. During the questioning, the patient indicated they had been experiencing the symptoms for more than a month and recently their condition had worsened, which was affecting their day-to-day life and work duties. The patient also revealed their job is handling raw cotton, and they’ve had the job for over 10 years.

After pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays, and lab tests, the pulmonologist diagnosed the patient as having byssinosis.

Is J66.0 the correct code for this diagnosis?

Alabama Subscriber

Answer: Yes, you are correct to use J66.0 (Byssinosis) to code the pulmonologist’s diagnosis. Byssinosis is an unusual lung disease that occurs when the patient inhales cotton, flax, or hemp particles. The symptoms may include coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness, and in the United States, the condition occurs almost exclusively with people who work with unprocessed cotton.

Code J66.0 falls under the J66 (Airway disease due to specific organic dust) subcategory and requires a 4th character for accurate reporting of the diagnosis.

Parent code notes: The parent code, J66, has an Excludes2 notes that tells you to code J67.- (Allergic alveolitis), J61 (Asbestosis), J67.1 (Bagassosis), J67.0 (Farmer’s lung), J67.- (Hypersensitivity pneumonitis due to organic dust), and J68.3 (Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome), if applicable.