N19 — Unspecified kidney failure
N19 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for unspecified kidney failure. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Excludes1 — never code together
These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Uremia NOS
Other codes that can never be billed with N19
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at N19. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading N19 alone.
- R39.2Extrarenal uremia
Risk adjustment
N19 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
N19 is named in 15 Medicare coverage policies — 15 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A55336Billing and Coding: Retroperitoneal Ultrasound
- A56545Billing and Coding: Hospice - Renal Care
- A56767Billing and Coding: Heavy Metal Testing
- A56767Billing and Coding: Heavy Metal Testing
How N19 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 N19.
- Uremia, uremic
- Azotemia›meaning uremia
- Failure, failed›kidney
- Failure, failed›renal
- Stasis›kidney
- Stasis›renal
Questions about N19
- Is N19 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. N19 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does N19 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the genitourinary system (N00-N99), in the block Acute kidney failure and chronic kidney disease (N17-N19).
- What cannot be coded together with N19?
- N19 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.