M00.88 — Arthritis due to other bacteria, vertebrae

BillableCC

Is M00.88 billable?

Yes — M00.88 is billable for FY2027. M00.88 is a valid, billable ICD-10-CM code at the highest level of specificity in its branch. M00.88 may be submitted for encounters from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

M00.88 at a glance

Code	M00.88
Description	Arthritis due to other bacteria, vertebrae
Billable	Yes
Code set	ICD-10-CM FY2027
Valid for encounters	October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027

Which MS-DRGs does M00.88 group to?

M00.88 sits in MDC 08 and helps define the logic of 3 MS-DRGs (version 44, FY2027). Which one a stay actually groups to also depends on procedures and secondary diagnoses.

548Septic Arthritis with MCCmedical
549Septic Arthritis with CCmedical
550Septic Arthritis without CC/MCCmedical

As a secondary diagnosis, M00.88 is a complication or comorbidity (CC), which can move a stay into a higher-paying DRG.

How is M00.88 listed in the Alphabetic Index?

These are the routes through the Alphabetic Index that lead to M00.88. They show the wording a clinician may have documented, which often differs from the Tabular description.

Arthritis, arthritic › pyogenic or pyemic › bacterial NEC › vertebra (acute) (chronic) (nonpyogenic) (subacute)

Use additional code — inherited from M00.8

Report an additional code alongside M00.88 to fully describe the condition. M00.88 is sequenced first.

code (B96) to identify bacteria

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 13

The conditions below are not part of M00.88, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, M00.88 and the excluded code may both be reported.

arthropathic psoriasis (L40.5-)
certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
compartment syndrome (traumatic) (T79.A-)
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)

Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from M00

The conditions below are not part of M00.88, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, M00.88 and the excluded code may both be reported.

infection and inflammatory reaction due to internal joint prosthesis (T84.5-)

How long has M00.88 existed?

M00.88 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.