A36.89 — Other diphtheritic complications
A36.89 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for other diphtheritic complications. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Diphtheritic peritonitis
Other codes that can never be billed with A36.89
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at A36.89. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading A36.89 alone.
Risk adjustment
A36.89 does not map to an HCC and does not risk-adjust under CMS-HCC V28. That is normal — most ICD-10 codes do not. It still needs to be coded correctly; it just will not move a RAF score.
Medicare coverage
A36.89 is named in 1 Medicare coverage policy — 1 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A56900Billing and Coding: Immunizations
How A36.89 is indexed
Coders do not find codes by browsing the tabular list — they look them up in the alphabetic index, under the word the physician wrote. These are the index entries that lead here, so you can see which chart wordings map to A36.89.
- Diphtheria, diphtheritic›nasal, anterior
- Diphtheria, diphtheritic›neurological complication
- Diphtheria, diphtheritic›specified site NEC
- Peritonitis›diphtheritic
- Stomatitis›diphtheritic
- Tracheitis›diphtheritic(membranous)
- Lymphadenitis›due to›diphtheria(toxin)
- Paralysis, paralytic›iris›due to diphtheria(toxin)
Related codes at this level
Codes that share A36.8. If A36.89 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about A36.89
- Is A36.89 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. A36.89 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does A36.89 sit in the tabular list?
- Certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99), in the block Other bacterial diseases (A30-A49).