Q68.0 — Congenital deformity of sternocleidomastoid muscle
Q68.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for congenital deformity of sternocleidomastoid muscle. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Congenital contracture of sternocleidomastoid (muscle)
- Congenital (sternomastoid) torticollis
- Sternomastoid tumor (congenital)
Excludes1 inherited from the categories above Q68.0
These are not written on Q68.0, but they bind it: a note on a category applies to every code beneath it. Billing Q68.0 with anything listed here is a denial.
Excludes2 inherited from the categories above Q68.0
Also inherited, and the opposite of Excludes1: these conditions are not part of Q68.0, but a patient can have both, so you may code both.
Other codes that can never be billed with Q68.0
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at Q68.0. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading Q68.0 alone.
Risk adjustment
Q68.0 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
Q68.0 is named in 23 Medicare coverage policies — 23 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A53057Billing and Coding: Home Health Occupational Therapy
- A53058Billing and Coding: Home Health Physical Therapy
- A53064Billing and Coding: Outpatient Occupational Therapy
- A53065Billing and Coding: Outpatient Physical Therapy
How Q68.0 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 Q68.0.
- Contraction, contracture, contracted›sternocleidomastoid, congenital(muscle)
- Deformity›sternocleidomastoid, congenital(muscle)
- Torticollis›congenital(sternomastoid)
- Tumor›sternomastoid(congenital)
- Contraction, contracture, contracted›muscle NEC›congenital›sternocleidomastoid
- Deformity›muscle›congenital›sternocleidomastoid
- Deformity›neck›congenital›sternocleidomastoid
Code history
Q68.0 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 Q68. If Q68.0 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about Q68.0
- Is Q68.0 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. Q68.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does Q68.0 sit in the tabular list?
- Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-QA0), in the block Congenital malformations and deformations of the musculoskeletal system (Q65-Q79).
- What cannot be coded together with Q68.0?
- Q68.0 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 Q68.0 (Q68) and apply to it just the same.