T20-T25 — Burns and corrosions of external body surface, specified by site
ICD-10-CM codes T20-T25 cover burns and corrosions of external body surface, specified by site, within injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes. The block holds 3,334 codes across 6 categories, of which 2,304 are billable and 1,030 are header codes that cannot be submitted on a claim. 3,334 of them (100%) require a 7th character.
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Includes
Conditions this code covers.
- burns and corrosions of first degree [erythema]
- burns and corrosions of second degree [blisters][epidermal loss]
- burns and corrosions of third degree [deep necrosis of underlying tissue] [full- thickness skin loss]
The 7th character in T20-T25
A code in this block is not complete without its 7th character, and a missing one is a rejected claim rather than a denied one: the clearinghouse never passes it on. 3,334 of the 3,334 codes here take one.
- A
- initial encounter
- D
- subsequent encounter
- S
- sequela
What else to watch in T20-T25
- 1,664 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.
- 2,301 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.