N28.9 — Disorder of kidney and ureter, unspecified
Is N28.9 billable?
Yes, but N28.9 is an unspecified code. N28.9 is a valid, billable ICD-10-CM code for encounters from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. However, N28.9 is an unspecified or catch-all code. Payers apply additional scrutiny to unspecified codes and many deny them when the medical record supports a more specific option, so check the documentation before selecting N28.9 — the more specific alternatives are listed below.
More specific alternatives
N28.9 at a glance
| Code | N28.9 |
|---|---|
| Description | Disorder of kidney and ureter, unspecified |
| Billable | Yes |
| Code set | ICD-10-CM FY2027 |
| Valid for encounters | October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027 |
Which MS-DRGs does N28.9 group to?
N28.9 sits in MDC 11 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.
- 698Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Diagnoses with MCCmedical
- 699Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Diagnoses with CCmedical
- 700Other Kidney and Urinary Tract Diagnoses without CC/MCCmedical
How is N28.9 listed in the Alphabetic Index?
These are the routes through the Alphabetic Index that lead to N28.9. They show the wording a clinician may have documented, which often differs from the Tabular description.
- Inefficiency, kidney
- Nephropathy
- Shutdown, renal
- Block, blocked › kidney
- Cachexia › renal
- Complication › renal (s) (from) (of)
- Disease, diseased › kidney
- Disease, diseased › renal
- Disease, diseased › ureter
- Disorder › kidney (of)
- Disorder › ureter (of)
- Impaired, impairment › kidney (function)
Excludes1 — never code together
The conditions below can never be reported together with N28.9 on the same claim. An Excludes1 note means the two conditions cannot occur in the same patient, so reporting both is a coding error.
Inclusion terms
Alternative wording in documentation that is classified to N28.9.
- Nephropathy NOS
- Renal disease (acute) NOS
- Renal insufficiency (acute)
Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 14
The conditions below are not part of N28.9, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, N28.9 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)
Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from N25-N29
The conditions below are not part of N28.9, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, N28.9 and the excluded code may both be reported.
- disorders of kidney and ureter with urolithiasis (N20-N23)
How long has N28.9 existed?
N28.9 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.
Which codes are confused with N28.9?
ICD-10-CM declares these codes mutually exclusive with N28.9 — exactly one of each pair can be correct for a given encounter.