How to Match an ICD-9 Code to the Diagnosis

ICD-9 diagnostic codes are used by medical facilities and medical personnel. They are essentially a very brief form of writing a diagnosis. The letters ICD are an abbreviation for International Classification of Diseases. Anyone who is familiar with these codes can tell at a glance what a patient is or was being treated for. For more complicated codes or for those who don't know the codes there are charts on several websites that list these codes with their definitions. These code number indications may be found on certain bills sent to the patient, such as a lab report.

Things You'll Need

• ICD chart or website

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Instructions

• 1

  Write down the code being researched. There may be multiple digits separated by decimals or commas. For example, it may written as "Diagnosis: 873.42, V71.09"--the comma indicates additional diagnostic information.

• 2

  Look at an ICD chart or go to a website such as ICD9data.com and find the column for the number 873. The numbers are in sequence and divided by category--873 indicates an open wound.

• 3

  Research further and find the 873 with the .42 behind it. The addition of the .42 shows that the open wound was in the patient's forehead.

• 4

  Find the second set of numbers in the charts. In this example the V71 means that the patient was under observation.

• 5

  Search further in the charts to find the V71 with the .09 added. Here you'll see the diagnosis was observation for an unspecified suspected condition. This could mean that the patient may have a mental condition or may display odd behavior due to the head trauma.