Using Status V-codes for Personal and Family History.

When would it be appropriate to use status v-codes for Personal and Family history?

using V-codes for personal or family history

They can be used to justify a screening test. For example: a colonoscopy every five years (I think five) if a patient has a family history of colon cancer.

A patient who is being followed by an oncologist, who no longer has active disease or isn't being treated should be coded with personal history of cancer, rather than the cancer itself. The cut off for that is one year after all evidence of disease or treatment.

Using Status V-codes

Thanks for the response. Do you know where I can find guidelines on using the status v-codes for personal hx of ca after 1 year of treatment? Also, if using the medicare scorecard, do status v-codes count for number of diagnosis or treament options in the medical decision making component?

History of

Personal history codes explain a patient’s past medical condition that no longer exists and is not receiving any form of treatment (ex, oral, radiation, chemo, injections, in cases of prior cancer diagnosis), but that has the potential for recurrence, and therefore may require continued monitoring.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd9/icdguide.pdf
Status codes (ex, V45 category) are always secondary codes and are a way of saying: "oh, by the way"--status codes are not treated duringthe encounter but may impact MDM of presenting problem(s).
Review the guidelines: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd9/icdguide.pdf