Wiki GI Bleed and Crohn's Disease

[alywagner]

I have a patient that was admitted to the hospital for a GI Bleed and also has Crohn's Disease. There is nothing in the file that directly states that the GI Bleed is from the Crohn's Disease. I was wondering if I need to code the GI Bleed first or the Crohn's Disease first? ICD-9 and ICD-10 books offer no direction under each code selection. Please advise.

 

[scorrado]

If the reason for the admissin is GI bleed and you have no documentation that it is from Crohn's I woud say that you have to code GI bleed as your primary code. Hope this helps!

 

[alywagner]

Thank you!

 

[apower66]

I agree....code the reason for the admit as the primary diagnosis.