O88.23 — Thromboembolism in the puerperium
O88.23 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for thromboembolism in the puerperium. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Puerperal (pulmonary) embolism NOS
Excludes1 inherited from the categories above O88.23
These are not written on O88.23, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing O88.23 with anything listed here is a denial.
Other codes that can never be billed with O88.23
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at O88.23. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading O88.23 alone.
- T81.7Vascular complications following a procedure, not elsewhere classified
Risk adjustment
O88.23 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
O88.23 is named in 2 Medicare coverage policies — 2 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A57189Billing and Coding: Serum Magnesium
- A57326Billing and Coding: Electrocardiograms
How O88.23 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 O88.23.
- Embolism›obstetric›puerperal
- Embolism›obstetric›puerperal›blood clot
- Occlusion, occluded›artery›precerebral›puerperal
Code history
O88.23 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 O88.2. If O88.23 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about O88.23
- Is O88.23 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. O88.23 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does O88.23 sit in the tabular list?
- Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A), in the block Complications predominantly related to the puerperium (O85-O92).
- What cannot be coded together with O88.23?
- O88.23 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 O88.23 (O88) and apply to it just the same.