New diagnosis code for COVID-19 to be implemented in ICD-10-GM in Germany

Jun 2020

According to the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) announcement, there will be a new ICD code for the coding of non-curative COVID-19 tests in symptom-free people implemented in ICD-10-GM on June 1, 2020. The implementation in the practice management systems is ongoing.

With the code U99.0! "Special procedures for testing for SARS-CoV-2" (Spezielle Verfahren zur Untersuchung auf SARS-CoV-2) doctors should record and specifically "label" cases when there are no symptoms of infection with SARS-CoV-2, but a corresponding laboratory test has been carried out, and the result is negative. Retroactive coding of cases before June 1, 2020, is not required.

U99.0! is a secondary diagnosis code. It must be specified together with ICD code Z11 "Special procedures for testing for infectious and parasitic diseases" (Spezielle Verfahren zur Untersuchung auf infektiöse und parasitäre Krankheiten).

It is expected that in the future, there will be more tests available for groups of people with no symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The corresponding legal law should regulate the right to perform specific tests and, among other things, the financing.

The full details in German can be found here. The DIMDI announcement can be found here.

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