Final answer:
V-codes are assigned as additional diagnoses when a patient's health condition or situation requires additional information to support medical care or management. They are used to provide important details about a patient's medical history or factors that influence health status. For example, a V-code may be assigned to indicate a patient's history of a previous fracture when they are being treated for a current fracture.
Step-by-step explanation:
When assigning V-codes as additional diagnoses, medical coders use the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding system. V-codes are used to describe factors that influence health status and the provision of health care, but are not considered as a principal diagnosis. They are assigned when a patient's health condition or situation requires additional information to support medical care or management.
For instance, if a patient is being treated for a fracture and also has a history of a previous fracture, the medical coder would assign a V-code to indicate the history of the previous fracture as an additional diagnosis. This provides important information about the patient's medical history and helps in determining appropriate treatment or management strategies, such as considering factors like bone density or recurrence of fractures.