K51
K51 — Ulcerative colitis
Non-billable headerICD-10-CM
K51 is a non-billable header ICD-10-CM code for ulcerative colitis. It cannot be billed on its own: choose one of the more specific child codes below.
Excludes1 — never code together
These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.
- Crohn's disease [regional enteritis] (K50.-)
Use additional code
Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.
Other codes that can never be billed with K51
These codes carry an Excludes1 note pointing at K51. The conflict binds both ways, but ICD-10-CM only writes it down on one side — so you would not find this by reading K51 alone.
Risk adjustment
K51 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.
Code to one of these instead K51
7 child codes. Green means billable.
Questions about K51
- Is K51 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- No. K51 is a non-billable header code. Code to a higher level of specificity using one of its child codes.
- Where does K51 sit in the tabular list?
- Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K95), in the block Noninfective enteritis and colitis (K50-K52).
- What cannot be coded together with K51?
- K51 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.