F41.9 – Anxiety disorder, unspecified

Billable/ Specific Code:

F41.9 is a billable/specific ICD-10-CM code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis for reimbursement purposes.

Approximate Synonyms:

• Anxiety
• Anxiety disorder
• Anxiety in childbirth
• Anxiety in pregnancy
• Anxiety in pregnancy antepartum (before childbirth)
• Anxiety postpartum
• Anxiety, chronic
• Chronic anxiety
• Postpartum anxiety (after childbirth)

Is this code Billable?

Yes

Clinical Information

• A category of psychiatric disorders which are characterized by anxious feelings or fear often accompanied by physical symptoms associated with anxiety.
• A disorder characterized by apprehension of danger and dread accompanied by restlessness, tension, tachycardia, and dyspnea unattached to a clearly identifiable stimulus.
• Disorders characterized by anxiety or dread without apparent object or cause. Symptoms include irritability, anxious expectations, pangs of conscience, anxiety attacks, or phobias.
• General term for the group of specific, anxiety-related, avoidance- prone disorders listed as nts.
• Persistent and disabling anxiety.

ICD-10: A Brief Synopsis

For disease reporting, the US utilizes its own national variant of ICD-10 called the ICD-10 Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). A procedural classification called ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) has also been developed for capturing inpatient procedures. The ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS were developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). There are over 70,000 ICD-10-PCS procedure codes and over 69,000 ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes, compared to about 3,800 procedure codes and roughly 14,000 diagnosis codes found in the previous ICD-9-CM.

The expansion of healthcare delivery systems and changes in global health trends prompted a need for codes with improved clinical accuracy and specificity. The alphanumeric coding in ICD-10 is an improvement from ICD-9 which had a limited number of codes and a restrictive structure. Early concerns in the implementation of ICD-10 included the cost and the availability of resources for training healthcare workers and professional coders.

There was much controversy when the transition from the ICD-9-CM to the ICD-10-CM was first announced in the US. Many providers were concerned about the vast number of codes being added, the complexity of the new coding system, and the costs associated with the transition. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) weighed these concerns against the benefits of having more accurate data collection, clearer documentation of diagnoses and procedures, and more accurate claims processing. CMS decided the financial and public health cost associated with continuing to use the ICD-9-CM was too high and mandated the switch to ICD-10-CM.