Determining Diagnosis Code Categories
HCR/220
June 7, 2013
Donna DeGrio

Determining Diagnosis Code Categories • A 68-year-old male presents to the office complaining of pronounced weakness on the right side of his body and slurred speech for the past 24 hours. Based on the examination, the physician orders an MRI to investigate a possible transient ischemic attack.

The physician ordered an MRI to investigate the possibility of a transient ischemic attack. This means that the physician is unsure of the diagnosis. Codes 780-799, used for symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions, should be used. According to the text, these codes are used for conditions in which a definitive diagnosis cannot be made. If TIA is the diagnosis, I believe it would receive a code between 390-459 (Valerius et al.,2008).

• A 44-year-old male presents to the office complaining of intermittent chest pain. The physician orders an EKG to rule out a possible cardiac event.

This case, I believe, would also receive a code from 780-799, because of the fact that it states the physician is trying to rule out the "possibility" of a cardiac event. Without further information, that would be my best guess. Now, if the patient were diagnosed with a cardiac event, depending on what it was exactly, it would be coded with a code between 390-459. If the chest pain is not related to a cardiac event, and happens to be related to something in the respiratory system, then it would receive a code from 460-519. Without more information, it is very hard to determine the correct coding for any of these cases (Valerius et al.,2008).

• A 72-year-old diabetic female exhibits a non-healing wound on her left foot.

According to the text, category code 250 indicates a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Also, a fourth digit offers