COVID-19 coding: What you need to know
These are the COVID-19 ICD-10 codes physicians need to know, accurate as of CDC's April 1, 2020 update.
On April 1, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated ICD-10 coding guidance as follows when it comes to coding for COVID-19.
Here is the latest coding guidance:
Codes for diagnosing COVID-19 (April 1, 2020 - September 30, 2020)
For diagnosis coding consider the following:
- For confirmed COVID-19 Diagnosis: U07.1
Use additional code to identify pneumonia or other manifestations. i.e:
- Pneumonia confirmed as due to COVID-19: U07.1 (COVID-19) AND J12.89 (Other viral pneumonia)
Additional manifestation codes:
- Acute bronchitis: J20.8 or J.40 if unspecified bronchitis
- Lower Respiratory infection: J22
- Respiratory infection NOS: J98.8
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): J80
Additional coronavirus codes not due to COVID-19:
- Coronavirus infection, unspecified: B34.2
- Coronavirus as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere: B97.2-
- Pneumonia due to SARS associated coronavirus: J12.81
If COVID-19 is not confirmed or if testing is negative, the following encounter codes should be used:
- Encounter for observation for suspected exposure to other viral communicable diseases (Possible Exposure to COVID-19 ruled out): Z03.818
- Contact with and suspected exposure to person to other viral communicable disease (Contact with COVID-19, Suspected exposure: Z20.828
- Encounter for screening for other viral diseases, Asymptomatic, no known exposure, results unknown or negative: Z11.59
The guidelines were very specific in their choice of code sets and sequence of codes. Please make certain that your codes, and coding resources, are up to date.
In-depth resources from the CDC
ICD-10-CM Official Coding and Reporting Guidelines April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020
ICD-10-CM Tabular List of Diseases and Injuries April 1, 2020 Addenda
Bill Dacey, MHA,MBA, CPC, is principal in The Dacey Group, Inc., a consulting firm dedicated to coding, billing, documentation, and compliance concerns for physicians. Dacey is a AAPC-certified coding instructor and has been active in physician training for more than 25 years. He can be reached at billdacey@msn.com.
