Is E87.6 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. E87.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does E87.6 sit in the tabular list?

Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E89), in the block Metabolic disorders (E70-E88).

What cannot be coded together with E87.6?

E87.6 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above E87.6 (E87) and apply to it just the same.

E87.6

E87.6 — Hypokalemia

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

E87.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for hypokalemia. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Inclusion terms

Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.

Potassium [K] deficiency

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above E87.6

These are not written on E87.6, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing E87.6 with anything listed here is a denial.

Written on E87 — Other disorders of fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance

diabetes insipidus (E23.2)
electrolyte imbalance associated with hyperemesis gravidarum (O21.1)
electrolyte imbalance following ectopic or molar pregnancy (O08.5)
familial periodic paralysis (G72.3)
metabolic acidemia in newborn, unspecified (P19.9)

Risk adjustment

E87.6 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

E87.6 is named in 4 Medicare coverage policies — 4 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.

A57189Billing and Coding: Serum Magnesium
A57326Billing and Coding: Electrocardiograms
A57361Billing and Coding: Monitored Anesthesia Care
A59186Billing and Coding: Magnesium

How E87.6 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 E87.6.

Hypokalemia
Hypopotassemia
Deficiency, deficient›kalium
Deficiency, deficient›potassium(K)
Depletion›potassium
Findings, abnormal, inconclusive, without diagnosis›potassium(deficiency)
Syndrome›hypokalemic
Syndrome›hypopotassemia

Code history

E87.6 has not changed since FY2024 — no addition, revision or deletion across the three most recent ICD-10-CM releases.

Related codes at this level

Codes that share E87. If E87.6 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about E87.6

Is E87.6 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. E87.6 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does E87.6 sit in the tabular list?: Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E89), in the block Metabolic disorders (E70-E88).
What cannot be coded together with E87.6?: E87.6 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter. Some are written on the categories above E87.6 (E87) and apply to it just the same.