In the inpatient hospital setting, an uncertain diagnosis documented at discharge using terminology such as possible, probable, suspected, likely, questionable, compatible with, or consistent with may generally be coded as though the condition existed or was established.
Therefore, “possible gram-negative pneumonia” may be coded in accordance with the inpatient uncertain-diagnosis guideline when it remains the final diagnostic conclusion.
The rationale is that inpatient diagnostic evaluation and treatment frequently occur before absolute confirmation is available, and the patient may have been managed as though the suspected disease were present.
This rule is materially different from outpatient coding, where uncertain diagnoses are generally not coded as established and the documented signs, symptoms, or confirmed conditions are reported instead.
The presence of the uncertain terminology alone does not mandate a query. A query would be appropriate if documentation is contradictory, if the diagnosis is clinically unsupported, or if another documentation issue prevents correct code assignment.
CDI specialists need to recognize this inpatient-specific rule because unnecessary queries for “possible” or “probable” diagnoses can create physician burden without improving coding accuracy.
CCDS Reference Topics: Uncertain inpatient diagnoses; discharge documentation; pneumonia; inpatient versus outpatient coding.
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