Is J02.8 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. J02.8 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does J02.8 sit in the tabular list?

Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06).

What cannot be coded together with J02.8?

J02.8 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.

J02.8

J02.8 — Acute pharyngitis due to other specified organisms

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

J02.8 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for acute pharyngitis due to other specified organisms. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Excludes1 — never code together

These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.

acute pharyngitis due to coxsackie virus (B08.5)
acute pharyngitis due to gonococcus (A54.5)
acute pharyngitis due to herpes [simplex] virus (B00.2)
acute pharyngitis due to infectious mononucleosis (B27.-)
enteroviral vesicular pharyngitis (B08.5)

Use additional code

Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.

code (B95-B97) to identify infectious agent

Risk adjustment

J02.8 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.

How J02.8 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 J02.8.

Pharyngitis›pneumococcal
Pharyngitis›specified organism NEC
Pharyngitis›staphylococcal
Pharyngitis›viral NEC
Sore›throat›viral NEC

Related codes at this level

Codes that share J02. If J02.8 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about J02.8

Is J02.8 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. J02.8 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does J02.8 sit in the tabular list?: Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Acute upper respiratory infections (J00-J06).
What cannot be coded together with J02.8?: J02.8 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.