F60.4

HCC Category Mapping

What This Code Means

A personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive attention-seeking behavior, emotional instability, and a need to be the center of attention in social situations. People with this condition often display dramatic emotional expressions and may have difficulty maintaining stable relationships.

Coding Tips

• •Ensure the diagnosis is documented by a mental health professional; histrionic personality disorder requires careful clinical assessment and should not be coded based solely on dramatic behavior without proper psychiatric evaluation
• •This is a lifelong personality pattern, so it is typically coded as a chronic condition; verify that the documentation specifically identifies this personality disorder rather than other conditions that may present with similar behaviors

Clinical Significance

Histrionic personality disorder is characterized by pervasive excessive emotionality and attention-seeking behavior. Patients present with dramatic, flirtatious, and theatrical behavior, with rapidly shifting shallow emotions. This condition impacts healthcare through exaggerated symptom presentation, frequent healthcare visits, and potential for symptom dramatization that complicates accurate medical assessment.

Documentation Requirements

• ✓Documentation of pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking beginning by early adulthood
• ✓Evidence of at least five DSM-5 criteria (uncomfortable when not center of attention, inappropriate seductive behavior, rapidly shifting shallow emotions, uses appearance to draw attention, impressionistic speech, self-dramatization, suggestibility, considers relationships more intimate than they are)
• ✓Pattern is enduring, inflexible, and pervasive across contexts
• ✓Not occurring exclusively during another mental disorder or medical condition
• ✓Functional impairment documentation

Commonly Confused Codes