July 9, 2020

Question:
I’ve heard that all you need to document for family history is the word “none”, and that would count as documenting. Is this enough?

Answer:
No. Documenting “none” is saying that the patient does not have a family history, and this would be false as we all have a family history. If the patient does not know the family history, you can say “noncontributory” as long as you state the reason it was not documented. For example, the patient was adopted with no knowledge of family history or the patient has dementia and no caregiver is present to relate past family history.

*This response is based on the best information available as of 7/9/20.