ckremer
Contributor
Is it appropriate to bill B95.0 with J02.0? I have providers that are using the dx's together but I feel like J02.0 is the only code that should be billed since it's more specific. Thanks for the help! 
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Wiki Billing J02.0 and B95.0
- Thread starter ckremer
- Start date
thomas7331
Guest
Is it appropriate to bill B95.0 with J02.0? I have providers that are using the dx's together but I feel like J02.0 is the only code that should be billed since it's more specific. Thanks for the help!
You are correct, J02.0 should not be billed with B95.0 because the organism is already identified in that code. The code book will tell you when you need to use a code for the organism with a "Use additional code (B95-B97) to identify infectious agent" instruction, and code J02.0 does not have this. Other codes in this range, e.g. J02.8, do have this instruction.
Per the Chapter 1 guidelines: Certain infections are classified in chapters other than Chapter 1 and no organism is identified as part of the infection code. In these instances, it is necessary to use an additional code from Chapter 1 to identify the organism. A code from category B95, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Enterococcus as the cause of diseases classified to other chapters, B96, Other bacterial agents as the cause of diseases classified to other chapters, or B97, Viral agents as the cause of diseases classified to other chapters, is to be used as an additional code to identify the organism. An instructional note will be found at the infection code advising that an additional organism code is required.
ckremer
Contributor
Thank you so much!