RE: aphasic

[Garry Woessner]

Check with your speech pathologist.  It’s been awhile since I’ve treated patients, but it sounds more like a diagnosis of “dysarthria” which is a neurologically-based motor speech impairment, rather than aphasia (synonymous with dysphasia) which is a neurologically-based language impairment.   Dysarthria is a weakness of the muscles that produce speech often resulting from a unilateral or bilateral stroke or other neuro insult.   It is possible to have both dysarthria and aphasia.   When discussing aphasia, it is important to describe both the expressive component (speech and writing) as well as the receptive component (auditory and written comprehension).   Your SLP can elaborate further – good luck.        Garry L. Woessner, MA, CCC, MBA, CAS Woessner Healthcare Consulting Group 6602 Scandia Road Edina, MN 55439 952-944-5415 (office) 612-670-1956 (mobile) [EMAIL PROTECTED]     -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Holly Sox, RN, RAC-C Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 8:05 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: aphasic   Becky, What you are describing sounds more like Dysphasia than Aphasia.  She has some speech, but it is impaired, rather than not having speech at all. I believe the code is 784.5   Holly   Holly F. Sox, RN, RAC-C  Clinical Editor, Careplans.com www.careplans.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: riversong To: aanac Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 8:46 PM Subject: aphasic   If a person speaks and is understood most of the time but has a mention of speech impediment in the discharge summary, would you ask the dr for a dx of aphasia and code it on MDS? People who have been around her for a long time understand her well. Others who have just met her have more difficulty understanding her. Would appreciate your opinions. Thank you Becky