Radiology Coding Alert

Question: Often, for ear infections, our radiologist will only document “OM, left ear” or “Right ear otitis media” on the indication, with no other details. How can we submit the right diagnosis codes in this situation?

Texas Subscriber

Answer: Accurate otitis media (OM) coding, like most disease coding, hinges on your ability to recognize a number of key words. Fortunately, OM coding only requires you to know a handful of medical terms, all of which are related to the kind of fluid the ear is discharging:

This immediately enables you to determine whether to code H65.- (Nonsuppurative otitis media) or H66.- (Suppurative and unspecified otitis media).

The division is particularly useful to coders, as it helps you to code any kind of OM that involves a discharge of fluid other than pus as nonsuppurative. So, for chronic serous OM you would code H65.2-, while you would code H65.3- for chronic mucoid OM. And you would code H65.11- (Acute and subacuteallergic otitis media (mucoid) (sanguinous) (serous)) for acute and subacute exacerbations that involve the discharge of any of these fluids.

Code for Infectious Agent when Appropriate

If your provider documents the cause of the OM, ICD-10 directs you to code H66.9- (Otitis media, unspecified) for cases of OM that are caused by the staphylococcal or streptococcal virus, while you would code OM due to other causes using H67.- (Otitis media in diseases classified elsewhere). The exceptions to this are B05.3 (Measles complicated by otitis media) or A38.0 (Scarlet fever with otitis media), which are both Excludes1 codes for H67.-.