ABSTRACT
Family and general practices have the burden of having to deal with many types of conditions and diseases. Unfortunately, this has often resulted in the use of diagnosis codes that are nonspecific or vague, for example, "Abdominal pain, unspecified" and "Diabetes, unspecified", and many others which should be avoided whenever possible. This chapter is designed to assist the health care provider to choose diagnosis codes on the basis of chief complaints such as chest pain, sore throat, vision problems, and so on. International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) Combination Codes can have a significant impact on point values. The conditions pharyngitis, tonsillitis, sinusitis, and so on are all subcategories under "Acute upper respiratory infections". Hyperlipidemia is defined as abnormally high concentration of fats or lipids in the blood. When tobacco is a factor in any illness, ICD-10 requires the use of an additional code from the F or Z series to identify current use, history, or exposure.
