Z79.891 — Long term (current) use of opiate analgesic
Z79.891 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for long term (current) use of opiate analgesic. It is valid for submission on a claim.
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.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Long term (current) use of methadone for pain management
Risk adjustment
Z79.891 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
Z79.891 is named in 35 Medicare coverage policies — 35 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A54799Billing and Coding: Urine Drug Testing
- A55001Billing and Coding: Urine Drug Testing
- A56389Billing and Coding: Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Visualization
- A56416Billing and Coding: Assays for Vitamins and Metabolic Function
How Z79.891 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 Z79.891.
- Long-term›methadone for pain management
- Long-term›opiate analgesic
- Therapy›drug, long-term›opiate analgesic
- Therapy›drug, long-term›methadone›for pain management
Related codes at this level
Codes that share Z79.89. If Z79.891 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about Z79.891
- Is Z79.891 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. Z79.891 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does Z79.891 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 family and personal history and certain conditions influencing health status (Z77-Z99).