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J15.211

J15.211: Pneumonia due to Methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

J15.211 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for pneumonia due to methicillin susceptible staphylococcus aureus. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Check J15.211 with the rest of the claim: free scrubber

Inclusion terms

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

  • MSSA pneumonia
  • Pneumonia due to Staphylococcus aureus NOS

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above J15.211

A category’s note binds every code beneath it.

Written on J15: Bacterial pneumonia, not elsewhere classified

  • chlamydial pneumonia (J16.0)
  • congenital pneumonia (P23.-)
  • Legionnaires' disease (A48.1)
  • spirochetal pneumonia (A69.8)

Risk adjustment

J15.211 risk-adjusts. Under the CMS-HCC V28 model it maps to this category:

  • HCC 282 Aspiration and Specified Bacterial Pneumonias0.440 RAF

Coefficient shown for the Community Non-dual Aged segment. A higher HCC in the same hierarchy will suppress this one, so capturing it does not always add score. Look up the whole chart to see which of its HCCs the hierarchy would zero.

Medicare coverage

J15.211 is named in 10 Medicare coverage policies: 10 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which one applies depends on your Medicare contractor.

  • A52466Nebulizers - Policy Article
  • A56580Billing and Coding: Computerized Axial Tomography (CT), Thorax
  • A56717Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy (Respiratory Care)
  • A56730Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy and Oximetry Services

Alphabetic index entries that lead here

  • Pneumonia›MSSA(methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus)
  • Pneumonia›staphylococcal›aureus(methicillin susceptible) (MSSA)
  • Pneumonia›in›Staphylococcus›aureus(methicillin susceptible) (MSSA)

The condition this code belongs to

Code history

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.

Other codes under J15.21

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.