CDC Notice: 4 Rules for ICD-10-CM Vaping Coding

Report Lung J Code for EVALI Per ICD-10-CM Vaping Coding Guidance

The aerosol inside of an e-cigarette that users inhale contains substances — such as nicotine, heavy metals, ultra-fine particles, and volatile organic compounds — that can cause harm, states the CDC. For patients documented with EVALI, you should assign specific codes related to specific conditions.

A few examples include:

For patients with acute lung injury but without further documentation identifying a specific condition (pneumonitis, bronchitis), assign code:

Use T Code for Poisoning and Toxicity Related to Vaping

E-cigarettes work by heating a liquid to produce an aerosol that users inhale. The liquid can contain nicotine, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinoid (CBD) oils, and additional substances and flavorings.

Drinking the liquid can cause nicotine poisoning, but the liquid can also be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. For children and adults who’ve been poisoned by swallowing, breathing, or absorbing e-cigarette liquid through their skin or eyes, assign code:

Note:
The hyphen indicates additional characters are required.

For a patient with acute tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) toxicity, assign code:

Code Documented Substance Use, Abuse, and Dependence Per Hierarchy

Vaping can become addictive because of the nicotine or other substance a user puts in it. It can also become habit-forming which can establish a dependence.

For patients with documented substance use, abuse, and/or dependence, assign any additional codes that identify the substances. Report the combination ICD-10-CM codes using the following sequencing hierarchy:

Assign Signs and Symptoms Codes Absent EVALI Diagnosis

There are many symptoms involved in EVALI. View Symptoms that have been reported by patients in the recent outbreak include:

For patients who have signs and symptoms of EVALI without a definitive diagnosis, assign codes for each sign and symptom. For example, some of these signs and symptom codes include:

Document: View the ICD-10-CM Vaping Coding Guidance update View the ICD-10-CM Vaping Coding Guidance update. Proposals for new codes will be made in March 2020, according to the ICD-10-CM Official Coding Guidelines – Supplement Coding encounters related to E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use update.

The CDC plans to update the guidance as new clinical information becomes available.