Is W16.521 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

No. W16.521 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.

Where does W16.521 sit in the tabular list?

External causes of morbidity (V00-Y99), in the block Slipping, tripping, stumbling and falls (W00-W19).

What cannot be coded together with W16.521?

W16.521 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.

W16.521

W16.521 — Jumping or diving into swimming pool striking bottom causing drowning and submersion

Non-billable headerICD-10-CM

W16.521 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for jumping or diving into swimming pool striking bottom causing drowning and submersion. 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 W16

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.

drowning and submersion while in swimming pool without jumping or diving (W67)

Risk adjustment

W16.521 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 W16.521 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 W16.521.

Striking against›bottom when›diving or jumping into water›swimming pool›causing drowning
Drowning›following›jump or dive›into›swimming-pool›striking›bottom
Drowning›in›swimming-pool›following›dive or jump›striking›bottom
Jumped, jumping›into water›in›swimming pool›striking›bottom›causing drowning

Code to one of these instead W16.521

3 child codes. Green means billable.

Related codes at this level

Codes that share W16.52. If W16.521 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

W16.522Jumping or diving into swimming pool striking bottom causing other injury

Questions about W16.521

Is W16.521 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: No. W16.521 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
Where does W16.521 sit in the tabular list?: External causes of morbidity (V00-Y99), in the block Slipping, tripping, stumbling and falls (W00-W19).
What cannot be coded together with W16.521?: W16.521 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.