J44 — Other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
J44 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below.
Excludes2 — not included here, but may coexist
The excluded condition is not part of this code, but a patient can have both. You may code both.
Code also
Both codes may be needed to describe the encounter fully. Sequencing depends on the reason for the visit.
- type of asthma, if applicable (J45.-)
Includes
Conditions this code covers.
- asthma with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- chronic asthmatic (obstructive) bronchitis
- chronic bronchitis with airway obstruction
- chronic bronchitis with emphysema
- chronic emphysematous bronchitis
- chronic obstructive asthma
- chronic obstructive bronchitis
- chronic obstructive tracheobronchitis
Other codes that can never be billed with J44
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at J44. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading J44 alone.
Risk adjustment
J44 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.
Code to one of these instead J44
4 child codes. Green means billable.
Questions about J44
- Is J44 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- No. J44 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
- Where does J44 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99), in the block Chronic lower respiratory diseases (J40-J4A).