kdt930
Contributor
The coding guidelines state that "conditions that are integral to the disease process should not be assigned as additional codes". Does the documentation have to provide information that the symptom is part of the the disease, or is it ok leave off the codes for things I know to be symptoms of other disorders? For example, I would not code anxiety separate to a patient that was diagnosed with panic disorder. Also per the DSM-IV insomnia and other sleep issues are very common symptoms for multiple mental health disorders so unless the provider documents that insomnia is a separate condition I consider it a symptom of the bipolar or major depression. I frequently get arguements from the other coder I work with because she said she was trained to code them separately unless the doctor ties them to each other. I would love to get someone else's view point on this. Thanks.