Pulmonology Coding Alert

Question: A 24-year-old patient visits an urgent care facility with an acute exacerbation of asthma. The patient is having difficulty breathing and is wheezing. The patient tried to use their regular inhaler at home, but they didn’t respond to the therapy. The physician administered an asthma nebulizer to help treat the symptoms. After the patient stabilized, the physician diagnosed them with status asthmaticus.

What code do I need to report the patient’s diagnosis?

Georgia Subscriber

Answer: To report status asthmaticus, you’ll assign J45.902 (Unspecified asthma with status asthmaticus) to your claim. Status asthmaticus describes a patient who isn’t responding to treatment after an acute exacerbation of asthma.

ICD-10-CM parent code J45.- (Asthma) features an Includes note that indicates several other conditions covered in the code family. Some of these conditions include allergic (predominantly) asthma, hay fever with asthma, and allergic bronchitis NOS.

Excludes1 note: Parent code J45.- features an Excludes1 note to indicate you won’t report J69.8 (Pneumonitis due to inhalation of other solids and liquids), J82.- (Pulmonary eosinophilia, not elsewhere classified), J60 (Coalworker’s pneumoconiosis), R06.2 (Wheezing), or J67.8 (Hypersensitivity pneumonitis due to other organic dusts) with J45.- codes.