F68.A

Billable

Factitious disorder imposed on another

HCC Category Mapping

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

0.000

What This Code Means

A mental health condition where someone deliberately produces, exaggerates, or induces symptoms or illnesses in another person (often a dependent) to gain attention, sympathy, or control; also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Coding Tips

•Document evidence that symptoms are being deliberately induced or exaggerated by the perpetrator, not the patient
•Ensure proper documentation of the relationship between the perpetrator and victim

Clinical Significance

Factitious disorder imposed on another (formerly Munchausen syndrome by proxy) is a severe form of abuse where a caregiver deliberately falsifies or induces illness in someone under their care, typically a child. This is both a psychiatric diagnosis (applied to the perpetrator) and a child abuse condition with legal implications. Identification is critical for victim safety and is a mandatory reporting situation in all jurisdictions.

Documentation Requirements

✓Provider documentation that a caregiver is deliberately producing or falsifying illness in another person
✓Evidence of deliberate fabrication, exaggeration, or induction of symptoms in the victim
✓Documentation that the caregiver's behavior is not motivated by external rewards
✓This code is applied to the perpetrator's record — the victim receives codes for their actual conditions and abuse codes (T74/T76)
✓Documentation of mandatory reporting and protective services involvement

Commonly Confused Codes

F68.10-F68.13 — Factitious disorder imposed on self; those codes are for self-directed factitious behavior, not imposed on another person T74.12XA — Child physical abuse, confirmed; the victim receives abuse codes, the perpetrator receives F68.A T76.12XA — Child physical abuse, suspected; used when abuse is suspected but not yet confirmed Z62.810 — Personal history of child physical abuse; for the victim's history, not the perpetrator's diagnosis

Code Hierarchy

└F68Other disorders of adult personality and behavior └F68.AFactitious disorder imposed on another

└F68.AFactitious disorder imposed on another