Z22.31 — Carrier of bacterial disease due to meningococci
Z22.31 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for carrier of bacterial disease due to meningococci. It is valid for submission on a claim.
Other codes that can never be billed with Z22.31
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at Z22.31. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading Z22.31 alone.
- Z20Contact with and (suspected) exposure to communicable diseases
- R82.7Abnormal findings on microbiological examination of urine
- R83.5Abnormal microbiological findings in cerebrospinal fluid
- R84.5Abnormal microbiological findings in specimens from respiratory organs and thorax
- R85.5Abnormal microbiological findings in specimens from digestive organs and abdominal cavity
- R86.5Abnormal microbiological findings in specimens from male genital organs
- R87.5Abnormal microbiological findings in specimens from female genital organs
- R89.5Abnormal microbiological findings in specimens from other organs, systems and tissues
Risk adjustment
Z22.31 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
Z22.31 is named in 1 Medicare coverage policy — 0 listing it as supporting medical necessity, and 1 listing it as NOT covered. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A52379Billing and Coding: CPT Code 87641 (Infectious agent detection by nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant, amplified probe technique)not covered
How Z22.31 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 Z22.31.
- Carrier of›meningococci
- Meningococcus, meningococcal›carrier of(suspected)
- Carrier of›bacterial disease NEC›meningococcal
Code history
Z22.31 has not changed since FY2024 — no addition, revision or deletion across the three most recent ICD-10-CM releases.
Related codes at this level
Codes that share Z22.3. If Z22.31 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about Z22.31
- Is Z22.31 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. Z22.31 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does Z22.31 sit in the tabular list?
- Factors influencing health status and contact with health services (Z00-Z99), in the block Persons with potential health hazards related to communicable diseases (Z20-Z29).