July 2, 2015

Dear friends,

In an effort to help you get ready for ICD-10-CM implementation on October 1, 2015, we will answer some diagnosis coding questions in future editions of the Coding Coach.

Question:

How do you code lumbar spinal stenosis with radiculopathy?

Answer:

Good question because some spine conditions have a combination code that addresses both problems such as M50.12 for a C4-C5 herniated disc with radiculopathy. However, there is no such combination code for spinal stenosis with radiculopathy. Therefore, you’d use the individual lumbar stenosis code (M48.06) and the lumbar radiculopathy code (M54.16).