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.

Check J38.3 with the rest of the claim: free scrubber

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

A category’s note binds every code beneath it.

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

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

Medicare coverage

J38.3 is named in 5 Medicare coverage policies: 5 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which one applies depends on your Medicare contractor.

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

Alphabetic index entries that lead here

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

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.