HeidiLeeCrawford
Contributor
Drug USE coding [when not listed as Dependence or Abuse]
Hello,
I am fairly new to coding and I am seeing alot of my Doctors stating Drug use in their reports.(usually through the patient saying they use it or the presence of the drug in blood/urine screenings and they are not a part of their prescribed medicines) They do not specify if it is abuse or dependence. Should I just code the presence of the drug in blood/urine or should I code dependence or abuse? Or is there a more appropriate code to use? I am seeing many of these now especially with the opioid crisis. Any advice would help. Thank you!
Hello,
I am fairly new to coding and I am seeing alot of my Doctors stating Drug use in their reports.(usually through the patient saying they use it or the presence of the drug in blood/urine screenings and they are not a part of their prescribed medicines) They do not specify if it is abuse or dependence. Should I just code the presence of the drug in blood/urine or should I code dependence or abuse? Or is there a more appropriate code to use? I am seeing many of these now especially with the opioid crisis. Any advice would help. Thank you!
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