When your child undergoes a feeding evaluation, they typically already have a feeding diagnosis from their doctor. Speech Therapists are unique in that they can also diagnose within their scope of practice. As a result, they may keep the existing diagnosis, add to it, or modify it. There are two main areas in which your child can be diagnosed, and it can be one, the other, or both.
Understanding ICD Codes
Before we dive into specific feeding disorders, it’s important to understand how these conditions are classified. In the medical world, we use ICD codes to diagnose and categorize different health conditions. ICD stands for International Classification of Diseases. These codes are like a universal language that healthcare professionals use to identify specific conditions.
Example of ICD Codes in Speech Therapy
For instance, if a child has difficulty with speech sounds, we might use the code F80.0. This code represents:
- Specific speech articulation disorder
- Phonological disorder
As speech therapists, when we see “F80.0”, we have a good idea of what type of speech issue we’re dealing with.
In this blog series, we’ll be concentrating on two main areas of pediatric feeding disorders:
Feeding Disorders
F98.2: Other feeding disorders of infancy and early childhood
F98.21: Rumination disorder of infancy
F98.29: Other feeding disorders of infancy and early childhood
R63.3: Feeding difficulties
R63.30: Feeding difficulties, unspecified
R63.31: Pediatric feeding disorder, acute
R63.32: Pediatric feeding disorder, chronic
P92: Feeding problems of newborn
P92.0: Vomiting of newborn
P92.1: Regurgitation and rumination of newborn
P92.2: Slow feeding of newborn
P92.3: Underfeeding of newborn
P92.4: Overfeeding of newborn
P92.5: Neonatal difficulty in feeding at breast
P92.8: Other feeding problems of newborn
P92.9: Feeding problem of newborn, unspecified
Dysphagia
R13.1: Dysphagia
R13.10: Dysphagia, unspecified
R13.11: Dysphagia, oral phase
R13.12: Dysphagia, oropharyngeal phase
R13.13: Dysphagia, pharyngeal phase
R13.14: Dysphagia, pharyngoesophageal phase
R13.19: Other dysphagia
We’re focusing specifically on certain feeding disorders and dysphagia codes because they’re the most common ones we encounter in our outpatient clinic. These include R63.31 (Pediatric feeding disorder, acute) and R63.32 (Pediatric feeding disorder, chronic) for feeding disorders. For dysphagia, we often see R13.11 (Dysphagia, oral phase), R13.12 (Dysphagia, oropharyngeal phase), R13.13 (Dysphagia, pharyngeal phase), and R13.14 (Dysphagia, pharyngoesophageal phase). The more complex cases often require specialized tools typically found in hospital settings, which limits our ability to treat them in our outpatient facility. However, understanding these disorders can significantly help parents, caregivers, and even other healthcare providers in better supporting children with feeding difficulties. In the upcoming articles, we’ll delve deeper into each of these conditions:
- What they are
- Their characteristics
- Possible causes
- Treatment approaches
Stay tuned to learn more about these important topics in pediatric feeding!