Is R79.0 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. R79.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does R79.0 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 R79.0?

R79.0 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.

R79.0

R79.0 — Abnormal level of blood mineral

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

R79.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for abnormal level of blood mineral. 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.

abnormal level of lithium (R78.89)
disorders of mineral metabolism (E83.-)
neonatal hypomagnesemia (P71.2)
nutritional mineral deficiency (E58-E61)

Inclusion terms

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

Abnormal blood level of cobalt
Abnormal blood level of copper
Abnormal blood level of iron
Abnormal blood level of magnesium
Abnormal blood level of mineral NEC
Abnormal blood level of zinc

Risk adjustment

R79.0 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

R79.0 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 R79.0 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 R79.0.

Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›blood level›cobalt
Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›blood level›copper
Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›blood level›iron
Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›blood level›magnesium
Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›blood level›mineral NEC
Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›blood level›zinc
Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›chemistry, blood›minerals

Related codes at this level

Codes that share R79. If R79.0 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about R79.0

Is R79.0 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. R79.0 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does R79.0 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 R79.0?: R79.0 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.