Excludes1 pair
R50- vs R68.0
R50 and R68.0 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 R50
hypothermia due to illness (R68.0)
R50
Fever of other and unknown origin
Not billable
- Chapter 18
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
- Section
- R50-R69
R68.0
Hypothermia, not associated with low environmental temperature
Billable
- Chapter 18
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
- Section
- R50-R69
Indexed under
- Hypopyrexia
- Hypothermia › not associated with low environmental temperature
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