Final answer:
Unspecified codes are used in medical coding when a condition is documented without additional descriptive information.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a medical condition is documented without additional information to describe it, the codes used are known as unspecified codes. These codes are used when the documentation is not specific enough to assign a more precise code. The unspecified codes should only be used when no other information is available to describe the condition in more detail. For example, if the diagnosis is “pneumonia”, the unspecified code J18.9 (Pneumonia, unspecified organism) can be assigned. Unspecified codes should be used with caution, as they may affect the quality and accuracy of the coded data.