Diagnosis Sheet/Covid

[Liza22]

We have been told , that we need to create a diagnosis sheet for every assessment we open for Covid+  patients and use U07.1 as primary diagnosis. except IPA we don't need a new diagnosis sheet!???I am confused!

[Talino]

The primary diagnosis should be the main reason for skilled service. If a patient is initially admitted after a hip fracture and requires skilled therapy, the occurence of COVID during his stay does not nullify the hip fracture-related dx as primary.  

If the skilled therapy ended (goal achieved) and symptomatic COVID is now the main reason the patient requires a skilled level of care, only then should COVID be made primary.

Otherwise, continue w/ the same primary and add COVID as a new contributing dx which will likely impede or alter the therapy goal.

For long-term stay residents who were initially admitted for CVA or Dementia as primary but is now afflicted w/ COVID that demands the most amount of care, then COVID should become the primary dx. When COVID is resolved, the dx may revert back to the previous primary. In a nutshell, the primary dx should always be the main reason a resident requires the largest amount of care.