Is T68 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

No. T68 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.

Where does T68 sit in the tabular list?

Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88), in the block Other and unspecified effects of external causes (T66-T78).

What cannot be coded together with T68?

T68 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.

T68

T68 — Hypothermia

Non-billable headerICD-10-CM

T68 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for hypothermia. 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 code T68

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.

hypothermia following anesthesia (T88.51)
hypothermia not associated with low environmental temperature (R68.0)
hypothermia of newborn (P80.-)

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.

frostbite (T33-T34)

Use additional code

Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.

code to identify source of exposure:
Exposure to excessive cold of man-made origin (W93)
Exposure to excessive cold of natural origin (X31)

Inclusion terms

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

Accidental hypothermia
Hypothermia NOS

Other codes that can never be billed with T68

These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at T68. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading T68 alone.

R68.0Hypothermia, not associated with low environmental temperature

Risk adjustment

T68 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 T68 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 T68.

Hypothermia(accidental)
Hypothermia›low environmental temperature
Subnormal, subnormality›temperature(accidental)

Code to one of these instead T68

3 child codes. Green means billable.

Questions about T68

Is T68 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: No. T68 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
Where does T68 sit in the tabular list?: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88), in the block Other and unspecified effects of external causes (T66-T78).
What cannot be coded together with T68?: T68 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.