You Be the Expert: Emmetropia Diagnosis

Question: A patient has a diagnosis of -emmetropia.- A colleague told me that 367.9 was the appropriate diagnosis code. Is that correct?


Kansas Subscriber


Answer: No. There is no ICD-9 code that describes emmetropia, which is the normal refractive state of the eye, in which no refractive error is present.

However, ICD-9 code 367.9 (Unspecified disorder of refraction and accommodation) is an appropriate diagnosis code for ametropia, a refractive error when viewing distant objects.

If the patient is indeed emmetropic, find out what brought him into the office, such as generalized eye pain (379.91, Unspecified disorder of eye and adnexa; pain in or around eye), asthenopia (368.13, Visual discomfort) or a headache (784.0). Use the complaint to select the diagnosis code.