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J03.8

J03.8: Acute tonsillitis due to other specified organisms

Non-billable headerICD-10-CM

J03.8 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for acute tonsillitis due to other specified organisms. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below.

Excludes1: never code together

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

  • diphtheritic tonsillitis (A36.0)
  • herpesviral pharyngotonsillitis (B00.2)
  • streptococcal tonsillitis (J03.0)
  • tuberculous tonsillitis (A15.8)
  • Vincent's tonsillitis (A69.1)

Use additional code

Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.

  • code (B95-B97) to identify infectious agent.

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above J03.8

A category’s note binds every code beneath it.

Written on J03: Acute tonsillitis

  • acute sore throat (J02.-)
  • hypertrophy of tonsils (J35.1)
  • peritonsillar abscess (J36)
  • sore throat NOS (J02.9)
  • streptococcal sore throat (J02.0)

Excludes2 inherited from the categories above J03.8

Not part of this code, but both may be coded when both are present.

Written on J03: Acute tonsillitis

  • chronic tonsillitis (J35.0)

Other codes that can never be billed with J03.8

Their own Excludes1 notes name this code, so the conflict is not listed above.

  • J36Peritonsillar abscess

Risk adjustment

No CMS-HCC V28 category: this code does not change a RAF score.

Code history

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.

Code to one of these instead J03.8

2 child codes. Green means billable.

Other codes under J03

ICD-10-CMFY2027· effective October 1, 2026

Loaded directly from the CMS/NCHS ICD-10-CM public-domain release: see data sources and our editorial policy. If this page disagrees with the CMS tabular list, this page is wrong. Reference information for professional coders; not medical or billing advice.