Home Historical vs Active COVID-19 Infection
Cracking the Code
Historical vs Active COVID-19 Infection
- Published on February 17, 2022
History codes are reported when a physician’s documentation specifies that a patient no longer has a condition. There is not a particular timeframe for personal history conditions; if a patient is diagnosed with pneumonia but no longer has pneumonia during a follow-up visit, then a coder would assign a code for personal history of pneumonia. This same rule applies when reporting personal history of COVID-19. U07.1, positive COVID-19 is ONLY reported if documentation supports a confirmed diagnosis. If it is documented that the patient was positive for COVID-19 weeks ago but no longer has the condition during their current encounter, then the coding guidelines state that a personal history code should be reported.
Z86.16, personal history of COVID-19