Q16.1

Q16.1: Congenital absence, atresia and stricture of auditory canal (external)

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CMPOA exempt

Q16.1 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for congenital absence, atresia and stricture of auditory canal (external). It is valid for submission on a claim.

Check Q16.1 with the rest of the claim: free scrubber

Inclusion terms

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

Congenital atresia or stricture of osseous meatus

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above Q16.1

A category’s note binds every code beneath it.

Written on Q16: Congenital malformations of ear causing impairment of hearing

congenital deafness (H90.-)

Risk adjustment

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

Medicare coverage

Q16.1 is named in 1 Medicare coverage policy: 1 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which one applies depends on your Medicare contractor.

A54111Billing and Coding: Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Services: Communication Disorders

Alphabetic index entries that lead here

Absence›auditory canal(congenital) (external)
Agenesis›auditory(canal) (external)
Agenesis›osseous meatus(ear)
Anomaly, anomalous›osseous meatus(ear)
Atresia, atretic›auditory canal(external)
Atresia, atretic›ear canal
Atresia, atretic›osseous meatus(ear)
Fusion, fused›auditory canal
Stricture›ear canal(external) (congenital)
Stricture›osseous meatus(ear) (congenital)
Stenosis, stenotic›external ear canal›congenital
Stricture›meatus›ear(congenital)

Code history

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.