When a patient is admitted with a localized infection and later develops sepsis, how should the localized infection be coded?

When coding for a patient admitted with a localized infection who later develops sepsis, coding the localized infection as a primary diagnosis is appropriate in this scenario. This is because the localized infection is the condition that led to the subsequent development of sepsis. In ICD-10-CM guidelines, the principal diagnosis is defined as the condition established after study that was the reason for the admission of the patient to the hospital. Since the patient was initially admitted due to the localized infection, this condition should be coded as the primary diagnosis.

The other options do not align with the coding standards because coding the localized infection as a secondary diagnosis would diminish its role in the patient's clinical scenario, as it directly contributed to the development of the more severe condition, sepsis. Labeling it an incidental finding would imply it was not a significant factor in the patient's admission, which is not the case here. Also, coding it as a resolved condition would misrepresent the clinical status of the infection at the time of admission, as it was actively contributing to the patient's health issues.