Is R78 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

No. R78 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.

Where does R78 sit in the tabular list?

Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99), in the block Abnormal findings on examination of blood, without diagnosis (R70-R79).

R78

R78 — Findings of drugs and other substances, not normally found in blood

Non-billable headerICD-10-CM

R78 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for findings of drugs and other substances, not normally found in blood. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below.

Excludes2 — not included here, but may coexist

The excluded condition is not part of this code, but a patient can have both. You may code both.

mental or behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use (F10-F19)

Use additional code

Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.

code to identify the any retained foreign body, if applicable (Z18.-)

Other codes that can never be billed with R78

These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at R78. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading R78 alone.

R79.0Abnormal level of blood mineral
A41Other sepsis
A49.9Bacterial infection, unspecified

Risk adjustment

R78 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.

Code to one of these instead R78

10 child codes. Green means billable.

Questions about R78

Is R78 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: No. R78 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
Where does R78 sit in the tabular list?: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99), in the block Abnormal findings on examination of blood, without diagnosis (R70-R79).