Can CAD be related to Diabetes? What would be the codes?
A. From a coding perspective, CAD can be “related to” or caused by or secondary to diabetes only if the physician says so in their documentation. This is why we strongly recommend that physicians be trained in documentation. It doesn’t matter if the physician thinks that the diabetes caused the CAD if they don’t say so. The coder cannot make that assumption. If the physician documents CAD secondary to the diabetes, then the correct coding would be 414.01 (see earlier question in “Ask a Coder”) and 250.8X – diabetes with other specified manifestations.
