FY2027
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Excludes1 pair

R55 vs T67.1-

R55 and T67.1 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 R55
heat syncope (T67.1)
R55

Syncope and collapse

Billable
Chapter 18
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
Section
R50-R69
Use when the record says
  • Blackout
  • Fainting
  • Vasovagal attack
Indexed under
  • Blackout
  • Collapse
  • Fainting (fit)
  • Near-syncope
  • Pre-syncope
T67.1

Heat syncope

Not billable
Chapter 19
Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes
Section
T66-T78
Use when the record says
  • Heat collapse
Indexed under
  • Collapse › heat
  • Heat › collapse
  • Heat › syncope
  • Syncope › heat

These two codes sit in different chapters of the Tabular List, which is usually the clearest signal that they describe different underlying processes rather than different degrees of the same one.

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