ICD-10-CM has a clear hierarchy when the same substance is documented with multiple levels of severity.Dependencerepresents a higher severity classification thanabuse, andabuseis higher thanuse. When two or more of these are documented for the same substance, you generally assignonly one code, selecting thehighest level of severitysupported: dependence over abuse, and abuse over use. Therefore, if bothuse and dependenceare documented, you assigndependence only(Option D). Option A is incorrect because you do not code both use and abuse for the same substance; you choose the higher severity (abuse). Option B is incorrect because if abuse and dependence are both documented, you would codedependence, not abuse. Option C is incorrect because ICD-10-CM does not support reporting all three separately for the same substance; doing so would be duplicative and noncompliant. CPC exam tip: remember the mnemonicD-A-U→Dependence > Abuse > Use(pick the highest).
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