There are many ICD codes, which appears to be easy to code but difficult to code. I have generally come up with many of such diagnosis codes. For example, status codes, V codes that are now replaced by Z codes of ICD 10, are used to be very clear to understand but to find the correct code was always difficult. The reason I am here again to discuss about the how to code a joint disease, Osteoarthritis. The ICD 9 code for Osteoarthritis is very direct in codebooks. But, still few coders are unable to find the correct diagnosis code for this joint disease. Osteoarthritis ICD 10 codes varies for all the joints from head to toe. Let us first checkout first more about the osteoarthritis and it diagnosis coding in ICD 9 CM as well as in ICD 10 CM.

Basics about Osteoarthritis ICD 10 code

Osteoarthritis is a joint disease caused by aging, injury or obesity. The most common symptoms for osteoarthritis are joint pain and stiffness. Therefore, coding Osteoarthritis is not much different from coding joint pain. I have already shared how we have code ICD 10 CM code for Knee pain in my previous post. As I have mentioned earlier, the ICD 10 code varies for each joint, so let us first checkout the different ICD 9 CM for Osteoarthritis of each joint.

715.91 – shoulder

 715.92 – Upper arm (elbow)

715.93 – Lower arm (wrist)

715.94 – Hand

715.95 – Pelvic region and thigh (hip)

715.96 – Lower leg (Knee)

715.97 – ankle and foot

715.90 – site, unspecified

Now, the above list of ICD 9 codes for osteoarthritis is to be used only when they have documented osteoarthritis. There are similar ICD 9 codes for localized (715.1X, 715.2X and 715.3X)  and generalized (715.0X) osteoarthritis, which should be used only when there is clear documentation of localized and generalized osteoarthritis of joint.

Read also: Learn about the difference between Excludes 1 and Excludes 2 in ICD 10

Documentation for ICD 10 code for Osteoarthritis

The documentation can have different names for osteoarthritis in the medical report. I being a medical coder, have come across phrases like degenerative changes of joint, degenerative joint disease, tricompartmental osteoarthritis, OA disease etc. which will be documented in the medical report to denote osteoarthritis. Hence, you should be careful while coding osteoarthritis ICD 10 CM code.

Read also: Best coding tips for Pregnancy complications in ICD codes

ICD 10 codes for Osteoarthritis

ICD codes are very different from ICD 9 CM codes. In ICD 10, the specificity of diagnosis codes increases too much. For example, as we seen we have only one code for Knee osteoarthritis, 719.46 in ICD 9 CM, but we have 4 different ICD 10 CM for the same code. Below are the four ICD 10 codes for knee osteoarthritis.

M17.0 – Bilateral primary osteoarthritis of knee

M17.10 – Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, unspecified knee

M17.11 – Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, right knee

M17.12 – Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, left knee

If you can see the above ICD 10 codes, you can easily find out, how specific these codes are. Just a difference of single digit in each code gives more information about the diagnosis. In ICD 10 we have separate code for unilateral and bilateral side for diagnosis like osteoarthritis in ICD 10 codes. ICD 9 code for osteoarthritis would not be as specific as ICD 10, but all diagnoses are correct as per ICD coding guidelines. Hope, now you can code osteoarthritis diagnosis is both ICD 9 CM and ICD 10 CM comfortably.

Other list of ICD 10 code for Osteoarthritis

There are many codes for other specific diagnosis of osteoarthritis. Below you find a list of ICD 10 codes used for osteoarthritis which are used in across all the facilities in medical coding.

M16.10 Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, unspecified hip
M16.11 Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, right hip
M16.12 Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, left hip

M16.30 Unilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia unspecified hip
M16.31 Unilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia right hip
M16.32 Unilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia left hip
M16.4 Bilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of hip

M16.5 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of hip
M16.50 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified hip
M16.51 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right hip
M16.52 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left hip

M16.6 Other bilateral secondary osteoarthritis of hip
M16.7 Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of hip
M16.9 Osteoarthritis of hip, unspecified

M17.0 Bilateral primary osteoarthritis of knee

M17.1 Unilateral primary osteoarthritis of knee
M17.10 Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, unspecified knee
M17.11 Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, right knee
M17.12 Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, left knee

M17.2 Bilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of knee

M17.3 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of knee
M17.30 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified knee
M17.31 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right knee
M17.32 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left knee
M17.4 Other bilateral secondary osteoarthritis of knee
M17.5 Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of knee
M17.9 Osteoarthritis of knee, unspecified
M18.0 Bilateral primary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joints

M18.10 nilateral primary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint unspecified hand
M18.11 nilateral primary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint right hand
M18.12 nilateral primary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint left hand

M18.2 Bilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joints

M18.30 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint unspecified hand
M18.31 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint right hand
M18.32 Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint left hand

M18.4 Other bilateral secondary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joints

M18.50 Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint unspecified hand
M18.51 Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint right hand
M18.52 Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint left hand
M18.9 Osteoarthritis of first carpometacarpal joint, unspecified
M19 Other and unspecified osteoarthritis
M19.0 Primary osteoarthritis of other joints

M19.01 Primary osteoarthritis, shoulder
M19.011 Primary osteoarthritis, right shoulder
M19.012 Primary osteoarthritis, left shoulder
M19.019 Primary osteoarthritis, unspecified shoulder

M19.02 Primary osteoarthritis, elbow

M19.021 Primary osteoarthritis, right elbow
M19.022 Primary osteoarthritis, left elbow
M19.029 Primary osteoarthritis, unspecified elbow

M19.03 Primary osteoarthritis, wrist

M19.031 Primary osteoarthritis, right wrist
M19.032 Primary osteoarthritis, left wrist
M19.039 Primary osteoarthritis, unspecified wrist

M19.04 Primary osteoarthritis, hand

M19.041 Primary osteoarthritis, right hand
M19.042 Primary osteoarthritis, left hand
M19.049 Primary osteoarthritis, unspecified hand

M19.07 Primary osteoarthritis ankle and foot

M19.071 Primary osteoarthritis, right ankle and foot
M19.072 Primary osteoarthritis, left ankle and foot
M19.079 Primary osteoarthritis, unspecified ankle and foot

M19.1 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis of other joints

M19.11 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, shoulder
M19.111 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right shoulder
M19.112 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left shoulder
M19.119 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified shoulder

M19.12 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, elbow
M19.121 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right elbow
M19.122 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left elbow
M19.129 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified elbow

M19.13 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, wrist
M19.131 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right wrist
M19.132 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left wrist
M19.139 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified wrist

M19.14 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, hand
M19.141 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right hand
M19.142 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left hand
M19.149 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified hand

M19.17 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, ankle and foot
M19.171 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right ankle and foot
M19.172 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left ankle and foot
M19.179 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified ankle and foot

M19.2 Secondary osteoarthritis of other joints

M19.21 Secondary osteoarthritis, shoulder
M19.211 Secondary osteoarthritis, right shoulder
M19.212 Secondary osteoarthritis, left shoulder
M19.219 Secondary osteoarthritis, unspecified shoulder

M19.22 Secondary osteoarthritis, elbow
M19.221 Secondary osteoarthritis, right elbow
M19.222 Secondary osteoarthritis, left elbow
M19.229 Secondary osteoarthritis, unspecified elbow

M19.23 Secondary osteoarthritis, wrist
M19.231 Secondary osteoarthritis, right wrist
M19.232 Secondary osteoarthritis, left wrist
M19.239 is a specific ICD-10-CM diagnosis code M19.239 Secondary osteoarthritis, unspecified wrist

M19.24 Secondary osteoarthritis, hand
M19.241 Secondary osteoarthritis, right hand
M19.242 Secondary osteoarthritis, left hand
M19.249 Secondary osteoarthritis, unspecified hand

M19.27 Secondary osteoarthritis, ankle and foot
M19.271 Secondary osteoarthritis, right ankle and foot
M19.272 Secondary osteoarthritis, left ankle and foot
M19.279 Secondary osteoarthritis, unspecified ankle and foot

M19.9 Osteoarthritis, unspecified site
M19.90 Unspecified osteoarthritis, unspecified site
M19.91 Primary osteoarthritis, unspecified site
M19.92 Post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified site
M19.93 Secondary osteoarthritis, unspecified site

Now, I hope this article will help you to code osteoarthritis ICD 10 codes correctly in future.