Wiki Debility & Muscle Weakness

[LisaAlonso23]

Can someone please clarify:

If muscle weakness is a symptom of debility, isn't it incorrect to list debility and muscle weakness as diagnoses for the same patient or is there more to it?

Thank you in advance.

 

[mitchellde]

if muscle weakness is all that is documented then that is all you can code. What ICD-9 are you looking to use?

 

[LisaAlonso23]

Thank you. I'm auditing claims that the clinicians code themselves. They use both codes together. It just doesn't look right to me. I thought I'd ask to be sure.

I just found my answer:

Debility- all over weakness as in lack of strength

Muscle weakness- lack of strength or weakness in a specific area of the body (leg, arm, etc.)

Therefore, they should not be coded together.

For example, my document states that the lower extremities are notably weak constituting a Muscle Weakness code. However, my clinicians are listing Debility (that isn't documented) as the primary along with Muscle Weakness (that is documented).