There seems to be much confusion regarding the coding of malignant hypertension in home care. Malignant hypertension (401.0) is a specific type of hypertension, it is NOT considered an exacerbation of benign hypertension (401.1). If the MD specifically documents malignant hypertension as the type of hypertension, you must code it as such. It is not appropriate to code the HTN as unspecified when the MD specifies the type.
Also, do not assume a patient has benign hypertension when malignant is not documented. If the specific type of hypertension is not documented, the coder should assign code 401.9, Unspecified Essential Hypertension.
**Hypertensive crisis nor uncontrolled hypertension does not mean the patient has malignant HTN, these are merely non-essential modifiers. Read your documentation carefully and thoroughly before assigning a code for hypertension.
In the Know 