F40.232

Billable

Fear of other medical care

HCC Category Mapping

RxHCCHCC 133 — Personality Disorders, Anxiety, and Other Specified Mental Disorders

0.000

What This Code Means

An intense fear of medical procedures or healthcare settings that may prevent a person from seeking necessary medical treatment.

Coding Tips

•This is a blood-injection-injury type phobia
•Specify the type of medical care feared (dental work, surgery, examinations, etc.)

Clinical Significance

Fear of other medical care captures patients with a phobia of medical settings, procedures, or healthcare encounters beyond injections and blood draws. This can lead to avoidance of preventive care, chronic disease management, and emergency services. Understanding this phobia is critical for care coordination as it directly impacts healthcare utilization and patient outcomes.

Documentation Requirements

✓Specific medical care situations that trigger fear or anxiety
✓Marked fear disproportionate to actual risks of medical care
✓Avoidance patterns and impact on healthcare utilization
✓Duration of 6+ months
✓Functional impairment including impact on health outcomes
✓Accommodations or treatment approaches to facilitate care

Commonly Confused Codes

F40.231 (Fear of injections and transfusions) — Needle phobia is specific to injections; F40.232 covers broader medical care fears F40.230 (Fear of blood) — Blood phobia is specifically about blood exposure, not medical care in general F40.240 (Claustrophobia) — Fear of enclosed spaces may contribute to medical care avoidance (e.g., MRI) but is a separate phobia

Code Hierarchy

└F40Phobic anxiety disorders └F40.2Specific (isolated) phobias └F40.23Blood, injection, injury type phobia └F40.232Fear of other medical care

└F40.232Fear of other medical care