Key facts
Family Practitioner There is no cure for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Damage done to the lungs is permanent, and causes air to be trapped in the lungs even after a person exhales, resulting in shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. While treatments can alleviate symptoms and improve airflow, they cannot cure COPD.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a preventable and treatable lung disease characterised by chronic obstruction of lung airflow that interferes with normal breathing and is not fully reversible. The symptoms of COPD include cough, sputum production, and dyspnoea (difficult or labored breathing).
Watch for symptoms that last longer than 48 hours: more fatigue or shortness of breath than usual more coughing than usual a change in colour of your mucus – can be yellow, green, or brown mucus
ICD-10 code: J44. 1 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with acute exacerbation, unspecified.
The Alphabetic Index leads coding professionals to code J44. 1, COPD with (acute) exacerbation, for exacerbation of COPD.
An exacerbation (ex-zass-cer-bay-shun) of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a worsening or “flare up” of your COPD symptoms. In many cases an exacerbation is caused by an infection in the lungs, but in some cases, the cause is never known.
An acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is a clinical diagnosis made when a patient with COPD experiences a sustained (e.g., 24–48 h) increase in cough, sputum production, and/or dyspnea.
Note: Code J44. 0 includes a note that says “use additional code to identify infection.” The infection has been identified as acute bronchitis (J20. 9) so this code should be added in addition to the others.
Understanding COPD exacerbations.More coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath than usual.Changes in the color, thickness, or amount of mucus.Feeling tired for more than one day.Swelling of the legs or ankles.More trouble sleeping than usual.Feeling the need to increase your oxygen if you are on oxygen.
An exacerbation must be defined by: an increase in symptom intensity occurring after a certain period of time since the last exacerbation (so that treatment failure can be excluded as the cause of the event); and the contribution of social criteria or reasons concerning the choice of therapy.
Exacerbation: A worsening. In medicine, exacerbation may refer to an increase in the severity of a disease or its signs and symptoms. For example, an exacerbation of asthma might occur as a serious effect of air pollution, leading to shortness of breath.
The first definition of COPD exacerbation dates to the 1980s and was a symptom-based definition focused exclusively on three cardinal symptoms, i.e. the “increase or onset of shortness of breath, sputum production and/or sputum purulence” [13].
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an umbrella term given to a group of chronic lung diseases that make it harder to breathe air out of the lungs. These diseases include emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and sometimes asthma.
A flare-up is the worsening of your COPD symptoms. They are the main reason people with COPD go to the hospital. Flare-ups should be taken very seriously. They are usually caused by a trigger such as air pollution or allergens, or a chest infection from a virus (cold or flu) or bacteria.
Table 1ICD-9-CM CodeDescription492.8Other emphysema493.22Chronic obstructive asthma with acute exacerbation496Chronic airway obstruction, not elsewhere classified518.81Acute respiratory failure12 more rows
If the documentation supports that the patient has a specific type of asthma documented and COPD, both codes could be reported. An example would be documentation in the record is COPD and moderate persistent asthma.
J44. 9 is a billable/specific ICD-10-CM code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis for reimbursement purposes. The 2022 edition of ICD-10-CM J44. 9 became effective on October 1, 2021.
Signs and symptoms include shortness of breath, wheezing, productive cough, and chest tightness. The two main types of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are chronic obstructive bronchitis and emphysema. A disease of chronic diffuse irreversible airflow obstruction. Subcategories of copd include chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema.
A chronic and progressive lung disorder characterized by the loss of elasticity of the bronchial tree and the air sacs, destruction of the air sacs wall, thickening of the bronchial wall, and mucous accumulation in the bronchial tree.
A type of lung disease marked by permanent damage to tissues in the lungs, making it hard to breathe. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease includes chronic bronchitis, in which the bronchi (large air passages) are inflamed and scarred, and emphysema, in which the alveoli (tiny air sacs) are damaged.
J44.1 is a valid billable ICD-10 diagnosis code for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with (acute) exacerbation . It is found in the 2021 version of the ICD-10 Clinical Modification (CM) and can be used in all HIPAA-covered transactions from Oct 01, 2020 - Sep 30, 2021 .
When an Excludes2 note appears under a code it is acceptable to use both the code and the excluded code together. A “code also” note instructs that two codes may be required to fully describe a condition, but this note does not provide sequencing direction. The sequencing depends on the circumstances of the encounter.
DO NOT include the decimal point when electronically filing claims as it may be rejected. Some clearinghouses may remove it for you but to avoid having a rejected claim due to an invalid ICD-10 code, do not include the decimal point when submitting claims electronically.