Is Q21.9 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. Q21.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does Q21.9 sit in the tabular list?

Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-QA0), in the block Congenital malformations of the circulatory system (Q20-Q28).

Q21.9

Q21.9 — Congenital malformation of cardiac septum, unspecified

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CMPOA exempt

Q21.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for congenital malformation of cardiac septum, unspecified. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Inclusion terms

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

Septal (heart) defect NOS

Risk adjustment

Q21.9 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

Q21.9 is named in 18 Medicare coverage policies — 18 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.

A52850Billing and Coding: Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Angiography
A54111Billing and Coding: Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Services: Communication Disorders
A56451Billing and Coding: Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT) and Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA)
A56476Billing and Coding: Cardiac Radionuclide Imaging

How Q21.9 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 Q21.9.

Anomaly, anomalous›bulbus cordis
Defect, defective›septal NOS(heart)
Anomaly, anomalous›cardiac›septal closure
Anomaly, anomalous›heart›septum
Deformity›heart›septum
Malformation›cardiac›septum
Imperfect›closure›septum›heart

Related codes at this level

Codes that share Q21. If Q21.9 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about Q21.9

Is Q21.9 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. Q21.9 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does Q21.9 sit in the tabular list?: Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-QA0), in the block Congenital malformations of the circulatory system (Q20-Q28).