S09.3 — Other specified and unspecified injury of middle and inner ear
S09.3 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for other specified and unspecified injury of middle and inner ear. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below. This code also requires a 7th character before it is complete.
This code requires a 7th character
The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category S09
- A
- initial encounter
- D
- subsequent encounter
- S
- sequela
Excludes1 — never code together
These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.
- injury to ear NOS (S09.91-)
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.
Other codes that can never be billed with S09.3
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at S09.3. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading S09.3 alone.
- S09.2Traumatic rupture of ear drum
Risk adjustment
S09.3 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 S09.3
3 child codes. Green means billable.
Related codes at this level
Codes that share S09. If S09.3 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about S09.3
- Is S09.3 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- No. S09.3 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
- Where does S09.3 sit in the tabular list?
- Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88), in the block Injuries to the head (S00-S09).
- What cannot be coded together with S09.3?
- S09.3 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.