Whenever dealing with a possible diagnosis of HIV or AIDS, the coder should take extreme care to verify the solidity of the diagnosis. The coder should always remember patient behind the codes and must realize that a wrong code placed on a patients’ chart can affect patient insurance coverage, employment, and life. A coder may send patient or his/her family into shock, severe depression, or even suicide. Thus, in the future, any medical problem that he/she develops can be denied as being related or diagnosed to HIV/AIDS and any medication that he/she might need would be denied for the same reason.
