Is R84.5 a billable ICD-10-CM code?

Yes. R84.5 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.

Where does R84.5 sit in the tabular list?

Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99), in the block Abnormal findings on examination of other body fluids, substances and tissues, without diagnosis (R83-R89).

What cannot be coded together with R84.5?

R84.5 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.

R84.5

R84.5 — Abnormal microbiological findings in specimens from respiratory organs and thorax

Billable / specific codeICD-10-CM

R84.5 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code for abnormal microbiological findings in specimens from respiratory organs and thorax. It is valid for submission on a claim.

Excludes1 — never code together

These conditions cannot occur together. Billing both on the same encounter is a denial.

colonization status (Z22.-)

Inclusion terms

Alternative wordings a physician may use in the chart for this same code.

Positive culture findings in specimens from respiratory organs and thorax

Risk adjustment

R84.5 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.

How R84.5 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 R84.5.

Positive›culture›bronchial washings
Positive›culture›nasal secretions
Positive›culture›nose
Positive›culture›pleural fluid
Positive›culture›sputum
Positive›culture›throat scrapings
Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities›specimen›respiratory organs›microbiology

Related codes at this level

Codes that share R84. If R84.5 is not quite right, the correct code is usually one of these.

Questions about R84.5

Is R84.5 a billable ICD-10-CM code?: Yes. R84.5 is a billable, specific ICD-10-CM code and is valid for submission on a claim.
Where does R84.5 sit in the tabular list?: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99), in the block Abnormal findings on examination of other body fluids, substances and tissues, without diagnosis (R83-R89).
What cannot be coded together with R84.5?: R84.5 carries an Excludes1 note, which means the conditions it lists can never be coded together with it on the same encounter.