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Coding Anxiety and Depression
Published on
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Did You Know?
The advice from Coding Clinic has changed regarding Anxiety with Depression.
Coding Clinic, 1st Quarter 2021, page 10 advises that Anxiety with Depression should be coded as two separate conditions, unless the physician has documented a link between the two. We are not to assume the linkage. If documentation does link the two conditions together, then F41.8, Other Specified Anxiety Disorders should be assigned.
Please note that this advice has been updated from Coding Clinic, 3rd Quarter 2011, page 6, which previously instructed us to code Anxiety with Depression as one condition.
Why It Matters?
It is important to correctly capture the clinical picture of the admission by coding the correct ICD-10 codes. Also, the Depression codes have been recently revised.
What Can I Do?
Review both Coding Clinics and the Oct. 1, 2021, coding changes with the coding staff.
Coding Clinic, 1st Quarter 2021, page 10
Coding Clinic, 3rd Quarter 2011, page 6Article Author: Anita Meyers, RHIT, CCS
Anita Meyers, RHIT, CCS, is an Inpatient Coding Professional at Medical Management Plus. Anita has over twenty-six years of experience in inpatient and outpatient coding including 17 years of work at AQAF reviewing inpatient and outpatient records from Alabama hospitals. In addition to reviewing records she was the team leader in Beneficiary Services where she participated in case review activities, received and processed beneficiary complaints and handled fee-for-service denials for home health, hospice and skilled nursing facility services. Prior to joining the MMP team, Anita left AQAF to become an inpatient contract coder and worked at various hospitals in central Alabama. In her current position, Anita is an integral part of the Inpatient Services at Medical Management Plus.
This material was compiled to share information. MMP, Inc. is not offering legal advice. Every reasonable effort has been taken to ensure the information is accurate and useful.
