Question

Dale presents to his primary physician with complaints of blood in his stool. After examination, the physician determines he has internal hemorrhoids. What ICD-10-CM code is reported?

Answer 1

The ICD-10-CM code for internal hemorrhoids ranges from K64.8 to K64.9. These codes assist health professionals in diagnostics, medical coding, billing, and epidemiological statistics. ICD codes are commonly found in medical laboratories and health-care management systems.

Step-by-step explanation:

The ICD-10-CM code for internal hemorrhoids is K64.8 or K64.9, depending on the particular details of the case. These codes are part of the clinical classification system used to categorize and define diseases, symptoms, and procedures, which is crucial in the health-care management system for processing claims and maintaining health records. When a patient presents with symptoms such as blood in the stool, health professionals perform diagnostic tests such as stool samples to rule out other causative agents, like bacteria and parasites, which could also cause bloody stools. In this case of internal hemorrhoids, no infectious agent is expected to be found. Medical coders use these codes to assign the correct code for procedures performed, while medical billers use this information to process insurance claims. Epidemiologists also use ICD codes to calculate morbidity and mortality statistics.

Two locations where one would likely find an ICD code include: medical laboratories, for identifying tests to confirm diagnoses, and health-care management systems, to verify treatments.