Is J38.3 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. J38.3 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does J38.3 sit in the tabular list?

Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Other diseases of upper respiratory tract (J30-J39).

What cannot be coded together with J38.3?

J38.3 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 J38.3 (J38) and apply to it just the same.

J38.3

J38.3 — Other diseases of vocal cords

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

J38.3 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for other diseases of vocal cords. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Inclusion terms

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

Abscess of vocal cords
Cellulitis of vocal cords
Granuloma of vocal cords
Leukokeratosis of vocal cords
Leukoplakia of vocal cords

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above J38.3

These are not written on J38.3, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing J38.3 with anything listed here is a denial.

Written on J38 — Diseases of vocal cords and larynx, not elsewhere classified

congenital laryngeal stridor (P28.89)
obstructive laryngitis (acute) (J05.0)
postprocedural subglottic stenosis (J95.5)
stridor (R06.1)
ulcerative laryngitis (J04.0)

Risk adjustment

J38.3 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

J38.3 is named in 5 Medicare coverage policies — 5 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.

A52866Billing and Coding: Speech-Language Pathology
A53052Billing and Coding: Home Health Speech-Language Pathology
A54111Billing and Coding: Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Services: Communication Disorders
A56868Billing and Coding: Outpatient Speech Language Pathology

How J38.3 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 J38.3.

Abscess›vocal cord
Cellulitis›vocal cord
Cicatrix›vocal cord
Disease, diseased›vocal cord
Dysphonia›spastica
Fixation›vocal cord
Granuloma›vocal cord
Hyperkeratosis›vocal cord
Hypertrophy, hypertrophic›vocal cord
Inflammation, inflamed, inflammatory›vocal cord
Keratosis›vocal cord
Leukokeratosis›vocal cord

Code history

J38.3 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 J38. If J38.3 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about J38.3

Is J38.3 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. J38.3 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does J38.3 sit in the tabular list?: Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Other diseases of upper respiratory tract (J30-J39).
What cannot be coded together with J38.3?: J38.3 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 J38.3 (J38) and apply to it just the same.