tci ED Coding & Reimbursement Alert - 2007 Issue 8

Reader Question ~ Choose Code Based on Symptoms if Doctor Doesn't Diagnose Depression

Question: When a patient exhibits signs of depression, but the physician does not diagnose depression, which ICD-9 codes should I use? The physician recently treated a patient whose father just died. She had insomnia and was not eating much, but the physician did not think the patient met the parameters for depressive disorder.Missouri Subscriber Answer: Without a definitive diagnosis from the doctor, you-ll want the diagnosis coding to reflect the patient's signs and symptoms. On your claim, report 307.42 (Persistent disorder of initiating or maintaining sleep) to represent the patient's insomnia and 783.0 (Anorexia) to represent...

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