Is R78.71 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. R78.71 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does R78.71 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).

What cannot be coded together with R78.71?

R78.71 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.

R78.71

R78.71 — Abnormal lead level in blood

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

R78.71 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for abnormal lead level in blood. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Excludes1 — never code together

These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.

lead poisoning (T56.0-)

Excludes2 inherited from the categories above R78.71

Also inherited, and the opposite of Excludes1: these conditions are not part of R78.71, but a patient can have both, so you may code both.

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

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

Risk adjustment

R78.71 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

R78.71 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.

A56686Billing and Coding: HbA1c
A57189Billing and Coding: Serum Magnesium
A59186Billing and Coding: Magnesium

How R78.71 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 R78.71.

Findings, abnormal, inconclusive, without diagnosis›in blood›lead

Code history

R78.71 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 R78.7. If R78.71 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

R78.79Finding of abnormal level of heavy metals in blood

Questions about R78.71

Is R78.71 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. R78.71 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does R78.71 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).
What cannot be coded together with R78.71?: R78.71 carries Excludes1 notes, which means the conditions they list can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.