Add 970.81 for your Cocaine Poisoning Coding

Add 970.81 for your Cocaine Poisoning Coding

Your emergency department calls your cardiologist to care for a patient with cocaine poisoning. Do you know what to do in this situation? A new ICD 9 Code changes what you report.

Updated codes: When ICD 9 2011 goes into effect on October 1, you can anticipate to see 970.81 available for when you need to report cocaine poisoning.

Get on top of this critical care scenario

Patients with cocaine poisoning can be complex, extremely sick and are potential critical care cases.

Think about this detailed example: A 22-year old patient presents with acute chest pain and hypertension. According to history, he inhaled four lines of cocaine within the past hour and has been abusing cocaine for the past year. The doctor carries out and documents a thorough history and exam.

Diagnostics cover a cardiac panel and drug screen and an electrocardiogram (ECG) shows ST elevation in the anterior leads. Lab work reveals elevated CPK (creatine phosphokinase) and troponin. The doctor treats the patient with intravenous Valium and starts him on a nitroglycerin drip. The doctor then admits the patient to the critical care unit with anterior wall ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) owing to cocaine poisoning and hypertension. The doctor reports 45 minutes of critical care time.

To report this encounter, you should go for the following: 99291, 970.81, 401.9.

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