Excludes1 pair
R48.1 vs R48.3
R48.1 and R48.3 are not coded together. ICD-10-CM declares them mutually exclusive with an Excludes1 note — the two conditions are not expected to occur together, so exactly one of them is normally correct for a given encounter. The Official Guidelines carve out one exception: if the two conditions are clearly unrelated to each other, both may be reported.
The official note, declared on R48.1
visual object agnosia (R48.3)
R48.1
Agnosia
Billable
- Chapter 18
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
- Section
- R47-R49
Use when the record says
- Astereognosia (astereognosis)
- Autotopagnosia
Indexed under
- Agnosia (body image) (other senses) (tactile)
- Astereognosia, astereognosis
- Autotopagnosia
- Agnosia › verbal
- Agnosia › verbal › auditory
R48.3
Visual agnosia
Billable
- Chapter 18
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
- Section
- R47-R49
Use when the record says
- Prosopagnosia
- Simultanagnosia (asimultagnosia)
Indexed under
- Asimultagnosia (simultanagnosia)
- Prosopagnosia
- Simultanagnosia (asimultagnosia)
- Agnosia › visual (object)
Excludes1 is not always absolute: where two conditions covered by the note are genuinely unrelated, CMS guidance permits reporting both. Document the reasoning rather than assuming it. More on Excludes1 vs Excludes2 · FY2027