R68.13 — Apparent life threatening event in infant (ALTE)
R68.13 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for apparent life threatening event in infant (alte). It is valid for submission on a claim.
Code first
The underlying condition must be sequenced before this code.
- confirmed diagnosis, if known
Use additional code
Add a secondary code to capture the detail described below.
- code(s) for associated signs and symptoms if no confirmed diagnosis established, or if signs and symptoms are not associated routinely with confirmed diagnosis, or provide additional information for cause of ALTE
Inclusion terms
Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.
- Apparent life threatening event in newborn
- Brief resolved unexplained event (BRUE)
Risk adjustment
R68.13 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
R68.13 is named in 5 Medicare coverage policies — 5 listing it as supporting medical necessity. Which of them applies to you depends on your Medicare contractor, and coverage genuinely differs by state.
- A56717Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy (Respiratory Care)
- A56730Billing and Coding: Respiratory Therapy and Oximetry Services
- A57205Billing and Coding: Oximetry Services
- A57205Billing and Coding: Oximetry Services
How R68.13 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 R68.13.
- ALTE in newborn and infant(apparent life threatening event)
- BRUE(brief resolved unexplained event)
- Event›apparent life threatening in newborn and infant(ALTE)
- Event›brief resolved unexplained event(BRUE)
- Newborn›affected by›apparent life threatening event(ALTE)
Related codes at this level
Codes that share R68.1. If R68.13 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.
Questions about R68.13
- Is R68.13 a billable ICD-10-CM code?
- Yes. R68.13 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
- Where does R68.13 sit in the tabular list?
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99), in the block General symptoms and signs (R50-R69).