J18.2 — Hypostatic pneumonia, unspecified organism
J18.2 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for hypostatic pneumonia, unspecified organism. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Hypostatic bronchopneumonia
- Passive pneumonia
Excludes1 inherited from the categories above J18.2
These are not written on J18.2, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing J18.2 with anything listed here is a denial.
Excludes2 inherited from the categories above J18.2
Also inherited, and the opposite of Excludes1: these conditions are not part of J18.2, but a patient can have both, so you may code both.
Written on J18 — Pneumonia, unspecified organism
- abscess of lung with pneumonia (J85.1)
- aspiration pneumonia due to anesthesia during labor and delivery (O74.0)
- aspiration pneumonia due to anesthesia during pregnancy (O29)
- aspiration pneumonia due to anesthesia during puerperium (O89.0)
- aspiration pneumonia due to solids and liquids (J69.-)
- aspiration pneumonia NOS (J69.0)
- lipid pneumonia (J69.1)
- pneumonitis due to external agents (J67-J70)
Other codes that can never be billed with J18.2
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at J18.2. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading J18.2 alone.
Risk adjustment
J18.2 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
J18.2 is named in 13 Medicare coverage policies — 13 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A53058Billing and Coding: Home Health Physical Therapy
- A53065Billing and Coding: Outpatient Physical Therapy
- A56580Billing and Coding: Computerized Axial Tomography (CT), Thorax
- A56717Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy (Respiratory Care)
How J18.2 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 J18.2.
- Anasarca›lung
- Anasarca›pulmonary
- Pneumonia›adynamic
- Pneumonia›hypostatic(broncho) (lobar)
- Pneumonia›orthostatic
- Pneumonia›passive
- Pneumonia›static, stasis
- Stasis›pneumonia
- Pneumonia›broncho-, bronchial›hypostatic
- Pneumonia›lobar›hypostatic
The condition this code belongs to
Every code for the condition on one page, which one applies when, and the mistake coders make with it.
Code history
J18.2 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 J18. If J18.2 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about J18.2
- Is J18.2 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. J18.2 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does J18.2 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Influenza and pneumonia (J09-J18).
- What cannot be coded together with J18.2?
- J18.2 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 J18.2 (J18) and apply to it just the same.