Adult Failure to Thrive (Debility Not Otherwise Specified)
This condition is most commonly seen in the frail elderly who may not
have one specific terminal illness, but may have one or more chronic
illness. In the absence of a known terminal illness, these patients often
have poor appetite, loss of weight, increased fatigue and a progressive
functional decline. Such frail elders may be eligible for the services
provided by the Medicare Hospice Benefit under the diagnosis of “failure
to thrive” or debility NOS.
The ICD-9-CM Codes for Adult Failure to Thrive for billing purposes
are as follows: 783.4 Failure to Thrive 799.3 Debility Unspecified 799.9.Other
unknown and unspecified causes of morbidity and mortality.
Consider this diagnosis if the frail elderly patient has:
Unexplained weight loss resulting in a Body
Mass Index (BMI) of22 kg/m2 or less,
and
In this situation patients may have several medical conditions, such
as moderate dementia and congestive heart failure with chronic renal
insufficiency. While they may not qualify for hospice under any one of
the specific conditions, the patient's overall health is so compromised
that prognosis is limited. This is usually documented by poor functional
status as illustrated by ADLs (activities of daily living). It is important
that there is a temporal decline in functional status as opposed in
contrast to a patient with low level of functional status but
who is stable at that level for the foreseeable future
