C40-C41 — Malignant neoplasms of bone and articular cartilage
ICD-10-CM codes C40-C41 cover malignant neoplasms of bone and articular cartilage, within neoplasms. The block holds 32 codes across 2 categories, of which 24 are billable and 8 are header codes that cannot be submitted on a claim.
Excludes1 — never code together
These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.
Includes
Conditions this code covers.
- malignant neoplasm of cartilage (articular) (joint)
- malignant neoplasm of periosteum
Risk adjustment in C40-C41
0 codes in this block map to a CMS-HCC, which means the diagnosis carries a risk-adjustment payment when it is documented and coded. Under-coding here is money left on the table; over-coding here is what audits are for.
- HCC 21 Lymphoma and Other Cancers
What else to watch in C40-C41
- 12 codes are laterality-specific. They come in left and right pairs, and the pair is mutually exclusive on a single site: coding both without a bilateral code is a contradiction a scrubber should catch before the payer does.
- 24 codes are named in Medicare coverage policies. An LCD or NCD lists them as supporting medical necessity, or explicitly as not supporting it. Which applies depends on the MAC for your state.