Coronary Artery Disease

Posted By CCS on December 22, 1998 at 12:24:09:







As a medical records coder, I am interested in knowing if a person who has had a CABG in the past is still considered to have CAD post-CABG whether they have symptoms or not?
Some fiscal intermediaries are requiring more coded diagnoses on Emergency room records in order for the hospital to be reimbursed for certain diagnostic tests.  The code for CAD will support a good number of the tests commonly performed in the ER.
Often the physician will note:     "PMHX:  CAD, CABG etc... ".  
These patients' medication lists will usually indicate that they take cardiac medicines.  In such scenarios, would it be safe to assume that the patient still has an element of CAD, so that we could code it as a secondary diagnosis?
Thanks,
Marta