Coding of respiratory diseases can be confusing due to the similarities and acute versus chronic exacerbation of the illnesses.

Review the Upper and Lower Respiratory tract illnesses as outlined in your text. Pick one of the disorders and identify what you feel are the distinguishing characteristics of the disorder that you would review as a coder. Are there different "categories" of the disorder? What makes the difference? What information would you review or look at to know definitely that this is the proper diagnosis?

Consider accessing other resources such as the coding guidelines (Appendix E) and cms.gov for additional information.