Jeanie Heck, BBA, CCS, CPC, CRC Education Consultant, e4health

This edition of Start Smart reviews pneumonia coding, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and vaping-related disorders. These respiratory conditions are coded in many ways based on the documented type and cause, so it is important to code to the highest level of specificity when supporting provider documentation is present.

Documentation is everything here: pneumonia should not be coded from radiologic, laboratory, or treatment findings alone, and ventilator-associated pneumonia (J95.851) and vaping-related disorders (U07.0) may only be reported when the provider explicitly documents them. Capturing that specificity also supports accurate risk adjustment—diagnoses such as acute respiratory failure map to an HCC.

The PDF tip sheets below, including a 2Q 2026 Coding Clinic update and the applicable Official Guideline sections (1.C.10.d and 1.C.10.e), support this topic as quick desk references.

Download the Respiratory Conditions coding tip sheets