Reader Questions: Make Sure Diagnoses Are in the Right Order
Question: Many of our ophthalmology patients claim general reasons for their visit, such as "I can't see well," or "My vision is foggy." We code these visits with 368.8 as the primary diagnosis because this is the primary reason for the visit. Any other problems or underlying causes of the blurry vision we report as secondary diagnoses. Is 368.8 the most appropriate code to use in these situations, and should we list it first?Answer: You should only report 368.8 (Other specified visual disturbances) as a primary diagnosis code when the ophthalmologist doesn't find...
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