Is Q15.9 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. Q15.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does Q15.9 sit in the tabular list?

Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-QA0), in the block Congenital malformations of eye, ear, face and neck (Q10-Q18).

What cannot be coded together with Q15.9?

Q15.9 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 Q15.9 (Q15) and apply to it just the same.

Q15.9

Q15.9 — Congenital malformation of eye, unspecified

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CMPOA exemptunspecified

Q15.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for congenital malformation of eye, unspecified. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Inclusion terms

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

Congenital anomaly of eye
Congenital deformity of eye

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above Q15.9

These are not written on Q15.9, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing Q15.9 with anything listed here is a denial.

Written on Q15 — Other congenital malformations of eye

congenital nystagmus (H55.01)
ocular albinism (E70.31-)
optic nerve hypoplasia (H47.03-)
retinitis pigmentosa (H35.52)

Risk adjustment

Q15.9 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

Q15.9 is named in 3 Medicare coverage policies — 3 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.

A54111Billing and Coding: Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Services: Communication Disorders
A56726Billing and Coding: Ophthalmology: Posterior Segment Imaging (Extended Ophthalmoscopy and Fundus Photography)
A56908Billing and Coding: Blepharoplasty, Blepharoptosis and Brow Lift

How Q15.9 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 Q15.9.

Anomaly, anomalous›eye
Deformity›eye, congenital
Malformation›eye

Code history

Q15.9 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 Q15. If Q15.9 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about Q15.9

Is Q15.9 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. Q15.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does Q15.9 sit in the tabular list?: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-QA0), in the block Congenital malformations of eye, ear, face and neck (Q10-Q18).
What cannot be coded together with Q15.9?: Q15.9 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 Q15.9 (Q15) and apply to it just the same.