Z48.03

Z48.03: Encounter for change or removal of drains

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CMPOA exempt

Z48.03 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for encounter for change or removal of drains. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Check Z48.03 with the rest of the claim: free scrubber

Excludes1 inherited from the categories above Z48.03

A category’s note binds every code beneath it.

Written on Z48.0: Encounter for attention to dressings, sutures and drains

encounter for planned postprocedural wound closure (Z48.1)

Written on Z48: Encounter for other postprocedural aftercare

encounter for follow-up examination after completed treatment (Z08-Z09)
encounter for aftercare following injury - code to Injury, by site, with appropriate 7th character for subsequent encounter

Excludes2 inherited from the categories above Z48.03

Not part of this code, but both may be coded when both are present.

Written on Z48: Encounter for other postprocedural aftercare

encounter for attention to artificial openings (Z43.-)
encounter for fitting and adjustment of prosthetic and other devices (Z44-Z46)

Risk adjustment

No CMS-HCC V28 category: this code does not change a RAF score.

Medicare coverage

Z48.03 is named in 2 Medicare coverage policies: 2 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which one applies depends on your Medicare contractor.

A53064Billing and Coding: Outpatient Occupational Therapy
A57591Billing and Coding: Non-Invasive Abdominal / Visceral Vascular Studies

Alphabetic index entries that lead here

Removal›drains
Admission›removal of›drains
Aftercare›following surgery›attention to›drains
Aftercare›involving›removal of›drains

Code history

Unchanged in every release from FY2024 to FY2027.