Is S13.4 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

No. S13.4 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.

Where does S13.4 sit in the tabular list?

Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88), in the block Injuries to the neck (S10-S19).

S13.4

S13.4 — Sprain of ligaments of cervical spine

Non-billable headerICD-10-CM

S13.4 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for sprain of ligaments of cervical spine. 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 S13

A: initial encounter
D: subsequent encounter
S: sequela

Inclusion terms

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

Sprain of anterior longitudinal (ligament), cervical
Sprain of atlanto-axial (joints)
Sprain of atlanto-occipital (joints)
Whiplash injury of cervical spine

Other codes that can never be billed with S13.4

These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at S13.4. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading S13.4 alone.

G24.3Spasmodic torticollis

Risk adjustment

S13.4 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.

How S13.4 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 S13.4.

Whiplash injury
Injury›whiplash(cervical spine)
Sprain›anterior longitudinal, cervical
Sprain›atlas, atlanto-axial, atlanto-occipital
Sprain›cervical, cervicodorsal, cervicothoracic
Syndrome›whiplash
Torticollis›traumatic, current
Sprain›neck›anterior longitudinal cervical ligament
Sprain›neck›atlanto-axial joint
Sprain›neck›atlanto-occipital joint
Sprain›neck›cervical spine
Sprain›spine›cervical

Code to one of these instead S13.4

3 child codes. Green means billable.

Related codes at this level

Codes that share S13. If S13.4 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about S13.4

Is S13.4 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: No. S13.4 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
Where does S13.4 sit in the tabular list?: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88), in the block Injuries to the neck (S10-S19).