Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy

jacorbett75@gmail.com

What is the proper way to code non-ischemic cardiomyopathy: I42.8 Other Cardiomyopathies OR I42.9 Cardiomyopathy, unspecified?  

Coonan6@gmail.com

Good question, I don't know if this the proper answer but I normally code it as other cardiomyopathies. That question doesn't just pertain to cardiomyopathy, I have wondered if there is a general rule as to when to choose unspecified or other on different diagnoses. 

bbogda@morrishospital.org

I don't know if this is correct or not, but I would code the unspecified for the non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (I42.8).  And just like the name implies - I would use 'Other Cardiomyopathy (I42.9) if the cardiomyopathy is otherwise identified, but no code currently exists for that specific diagnosis.

Non-ischemic to me is a non-specific term such as ACS.  Maybe the exact cause or type of cardiomyopathy hasn't been determined yet, but it has been determined that it is not ischemic.

afrady@blr.com

Other and NEC (Not elsewhere classified) are for when a condition is named but not indexable in ICD 10.  Unspecified or NOS is used when I condition is simply not named.

Be that as it may "non-ischemic" not specified because telling me what it isn't in no way tells me what it really is, therefore it would fall to the unspecified category.

If he had said something like "ACDIS forum cardiomyopathy" it would be named but not indexable and would fall to other/NEC.