When a patient is admitted with both sepsis and a localized infection, such as pneumonia or cellulitis, sepsis is sequenced first and the code for the localized infection is assigned as a secondary diagnosis OCG 1.C.1.4.
Circumstances in which sepsis is not the principal diagnosis include:
- Sepsis or signs/symptoms of sepsis are not present on admission
- Postprocedural sepsis or sepsis due to a device or implant is coded to the appropriate complication code and sequenced first with additional codes to identify any systemic and/or localized infection as a secondary diagnosis.
What is an example of a third circumstance when sepsis is not assigned as the principal diagnosis?