R03.0 — Elevated blood-pressure reading, without diagnosis of hypertension
Is R03.0 billable?
Yes — R03.0 is billable for FY2027. R03.0 is a valid, billable ICD-10-CM code at the highest level of specificity in its branch. R03.0 may be submitted for encounters from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
R03.0 at a glance
| Code | R03.0 |
|---|---|
| Description | Elevated blood-pressure reading, without diagnosis of hypertension |
| Billable | Yes |
| Code set | ICD-10-CM FY2027 |
| Valid for encounters | October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027 |
What Medicare edits apply to R03.0?
The Medicare Code Editor screens inpatient claims before they are grouped. These edits name R03.0 directly.
CMS does not consider this code, on its own, sufficient justification for admission to an acute care hospital when reported as the principal diagnosis.
Which MS-DRGs does R03.0 group to?
R03.0 sits in MDC 05 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.
- 314Other Circulatory System Diagnoses with MCCmedical
- 315Other Circulatory System Diagnoses with CCmedical
- 316Other Circulatory System Diagnoses without CC/MCCmedical
How is R03.0 listed in the Alphabetic Index?
These are the routes through the Alphabetic Index that lead to R03.0. They show the wording a clinician may have documented, which often differs from the Tabular description.
- Borderline › hypertension
- Hypertension, hypertensive › borderline (accelerated) (benign) (essential) (idiopathic) (malignant) (systemic)
- Hypertension, hypertensive › transient (accelerated) (benign) (essential) (idiopathic) (malignant) (systemic)
- Abnormal, abnormality, abnormalities › blood pressure › elevated
- Elevated, elevation › blood pressure › reading, no diagnosis of hypertension
- High › blood pressure › borderline
- High › blood pressure › reading, without diagnosis of hypertension
- Tension › arterial, high › without diagnosis of hypertension
- Blood › pressure › high › borderline
- Blood › pressure › high › incidental reading, without diagnosis of hypertension
Note
- This category is to be used to record an episode of elevated blood pressure in a patient in whom no formal diagnosis of hypertension has been made, or as an isolated incidental finding.
Excludes2 — not included here — inherited from Chapter 18
The conditions below are not part of R03.0, but a patient may have both at the same time. When documentation supports it, R03.0 and the excluded code may both be reported.
How long has R03.0 existed?
R03.0 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.