Ahhhhh: Relief for Your Migraine ICD-9 Coding Headaches
Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by Editor in Hot Coding Topics
Don’t let migraines’ five subcategories and 30 codes suck you into opting for the lower paying generic headache code. To stop relying on 784.0 (Headache) and assign more specific migraine codes, identify the correct subcategory. Then, focus on two words to pin down the final fifth digit. Here’s how.
Step 1: ID Your Migraine Family
Use Symptoms to Code Migraine With Aura
You’ll be in the 346.0x (Migraine with aura) family if you find these details that indicate a migraine with aura or “classic migraine.” An aura is a warning symptom that precedes a migraine attack. Auras are characterized by visual symptoms, such as blind spots, flashes of light, and other visual distortions. Often, they also include motor weakness, paresthesia, or aphasia.
AUDIO: Report Pain, reduce denials & stay compliant. With Marvel Hammer.
Change to 346.1x for Migraine Without Aura
Switch to a fourth digit of 1 for a migraine without aura (346.10-346.13). These migraines, formerly known as a “common migraine,” have a pulsating quality, unilateral location, are moderate to severe intensity, and are recurrent in attacks lasting anywhere from four to 72 hours.
Migraines without aura are accompanied by nausea, photophobia, and/or phonophobia. “The symptoms of migraine without aura are virtually indistinguishable from migraine with aura with the exception that no aura precedes the migraine attack,” explains Marvel Hammer, RN, CPC, CCS-P, ACS-PM, CHCO, owner of MJH Consulting in Denver.
Break Down Variants of Migraine
Variants of migraine map to 346.2x (Variants of migraine, not elsewhere classified).The variants include abdominal migraine, cyclical vomiting associated with migraine, ophthalmoplegic migraine, and periodic headache syndromes in a child or adolescent.
Check Time for Hemiplegic Migraine
You’ll be in the 346.3x subcategory for a hemiplegic migraine (346.30-346.33). These migraines include aura, and are characterized by paralysis or motor weakness on one side of the body and simulate the symptoms of a stroke. Such paralysis is often temporary, but...
If you've already signed in and are still seeing this screen, click here to refresh the page.
- Free updates on CPT, ICD-9, HCPCS, Medicare, NCCI edits, and ICD-10.
- Discounts on 3rd party offers
Loading ...