The primary diagnosis is the patient's condition that requires the most resources from the provider and is used for billing for health care. It is important to remember that the primary reason for the patient's visit indicates the primary diagnostic code that should be used in the claim. Diagnostic code indicators are used to indicate the appropriate order of importance in relation to the service being provided. The first pointer designates the main diagnosis of the service line. The remaining diagnostic indicators indicate a decrease in the level of importance for the service line.
The primary diagnosis refers to the patient's condition that requires the most resources from the provider during the patient's stay. Whether it's the diagnosis-related grouping (DRG) or the ICD-10 coding, the primary diagnosis is used to inform the payer of how much the provider is owed after filing a medical claim. Although in practice they can be (and often are) the same diagnosis, their definitions are different. While the primary diagnosis is the underlying cause of the patient's symptoms, the primary diagnosis is used to bill for medical care.
The diagnostic version code associated with each of the diagnostic codes indicates whether the version was ICD9 or 10 (see the DGNS_VRSN_CD_1—12 fields)).
