Wiki Depression

[torresreb]

I'm hoping someon will provide your opinion in regards to the ICD-9 code 300.4.

When I look at it I see Dysthymia - which I looked up and I see the same definition over and over:

dysthymia is a serious state of chronic depression, which persists for at least two years (1 year for children and adolescents).

In the ICD9 book it is under the Anxiety, dissociative and somatoform disorders ... the definition under the code talks about depression WITH anxiety or Anxiety depression ...

I am confused as to whether 300.4 can be used when ONLY dysthymia is the issue. There is NO talk about anxiety just the definition of dysthymia .. would it be incorrect to use the 300.4 code?

I cannot seem to find any material with any type of opinion. With ICD-10 it will be easier to code but we are still cleaning up ICD9 and there seems to be no answer for this question ....

Finally, is there any course anyone would recommend for someone who has done very little E/M, ER level and/or Office Visit coding? I'm interested but after being a radiology coder for 9 1/2 years coding office visits are a bit of a challenge. Thank you for any and all help you decide to give me.

Rebecca

 

[cathya35]

Dysthymia

If dysthymia is the diagnosis, I would code as 300.4. If you search the alphabetical index for dysthymia, it gets you to code 300.4. The tabular list doesn't always have the same description as the index, but it is still the right code. I was taught to "trust the index" for situations like this.

AAPC's CPC course teaches E/M and office visit coding. There are also some webinars through AAPC for E/M coding. I would also consider HCPro's outpatient coding course.