Wiki coder in training coding question!

[Cgstan]

I am in the Medical Coding CPC course currently: My husband is a physician and asked me about a code that a hospital coder assigned to his documented diagnosis, which is Myelopathy due to HTLV-1. He saw that they used 349.82. He doesn't think it is correct so he asked me!

Being in the early part of the course, I tried to figure it out....I believe the code HTLV-1 code, 079.51 would be sequenced first, followed by the myelopathy, however I can't figure out the correct code, (if I am heading in the right direction to begin with).

Any guidance would be appreciated.

C.S.

 

[lcloud816]

I would have to agree with what you are saying. The myelopathy is due to the HTLV-1, so that would be coded first according to coding guidelines. 349.82 is Toxic encephalopathy which needs an additional E code to identify the cause. You might have t read his documentation to get exactly what you need. But I would say 079.51 and 336.9