Sometimes different disorders or subtypes of disorders have the same diagnostic code. Is there an error here?
A number of individuals have contacted us about possible “clerical errors” in the diagnostic codes, namely, that certain disorders and subtypes have the same diagnostic code. Although this situation is certainly not optimal, it was necessary at times (particularly in coding substance-related disorders) to use the same code for more than one disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnostic codes are limited to those contained within the ICD-9-CM coding system, which is required by most governmental agencies and private insurers. DSM-IV-TR contains more diagnostic entities than there are official codes in ICD-9-CM. Therefore, by necessity, some DSM-IV-TR diagnoses share diagnostic codes.