H65.196 — Other acute nonsuppurative otitis media, recurrent, bilateral

Billable

Is H65.196 billable?

Yes — H65.196 is billable for FY2027. H65.196 is a valid, billable ICD-10-CM code at the highest level of specificity in its branch. H65.196 may be submitted for encounters from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

H65.196 at a glance

Code	H65.196
Description	Other acute nonsuppurative otitis media, recurrent, bilateral
Billable	Yes
Code set	ICD-10-CM FY2027
Valid for encounters	October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027

Which MS-DRGs does H65.196 group to?

H65.196 sits in MDC 03 and helps define the logic of 2 MS-DRGs (version 44, FY2027). Which one a stay actually groups to also depends on procedures and secondary diagnoses.

152Otitis Media and URI with MCCmedical
153Otitis Media and URI without MCCmedical

How is H65.196 listed in the Alphabetic Index?

The Alphabetic Index lists these routes under H65.19, the nearest indexed parent of H65.196. Use them to find the family, then select the specific code.

Otitis › media › nonsuppurative › acute or subacute NEC (acute)
Otitis › media › nonsuppurative › acute or subacute NEC › recurrent (acute)

Excludes1 — never code together — inherited from H65.1

The conditions below can never be reported together with H65.196 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.

otitic barotrauma (T70.0)
otitis media (acute) NOS (H66.9)

Use additional code — inherited from H65

Report an additional code alongside H65.196 to fully describe the condition. H65.196 is sequenced first.

code for any associated perforated tympanic membrane (H72.-)
code, if applicable, to identify:
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22)
exposure to tobacco smoke in the perinatal period (P96.81)
history of tobacco dependence (Z87.891)
infectious agent (B95-B97)
occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z57.31)
tobacco dependence (F17.-)
tobacco use (Z72.0)

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 8

The conditions below are not part of H65.196, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, H65.196 and the excluded code may both be reported.

certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)
congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E88)
injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)
neoplasms (C00-D49)
symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)

How long has H65.196 existed?

H65.196 has been in ICD-10-CM since at least FY2016, the earliest fiscal year on record here.

Derived from the official order files for FY2016–FY2026. FY2017 and FY2020 publish no order file, so those years are not covered.