Searching for an ICD-10-CM Code

To search for an ICD-10-CM code:

  1. Enter a term, terms, or code in the Search for field.  The terms can be shortened to the first three or four letters and can be entered in any order. For a code, you can enter as little as the first three digits of the code. There are also many E codes with sub-terms of one or two words, such as by, with, due to, and from. You don’t need to enter those terms in the search.

  2. Choose the Diagnosis, ICD-10-CM or External Cause, ICD-10-CM code book from the code book list.

  3. Click Search to view the search results. The Search Results pane displays the results. Several results may be shown due to the search terms being found in multiple places in the alphabetic index. If you searched by a code you are taken directly to the tabular view.

  4. If there are additional secondary results that you want to view, click the Show all search results link. The first results are the best results based upon the search terms used. The secondary results are particularly helpful when you are unsure of the terms to enter for a disease.

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  1. To view the detail for a term in the Search Results pane, click on it.

  1. If a cross-reference (see or see also note) is listed and you want to view it, click the link to view the related term.

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  1. For conditions that involve more than one code, both of the codes are listed with the second one in brackets. To view the first code in the tabular, press Enter. Then press Enter again to view the second code in the tabular. When you press Enter a third time both codes are posted.

  2. To select a code and open the tabular, click on the code in either the Search Results or the Detail pane. In the tabular, check any instructional notes. To do so, click on the instructional_notes_icon00001.jpg symbol to the left of the code to open the instructional notes. Perform any needed research using the Research pane (refer to  for more information on the Research pane).

Seventh Character

The code may require a seventh character, a character that provides additional information about the diagnosis and the encounter. If this is the case, an expand icon appears to the left of the code. Do the following to select the seventh character for the code:

  1. Click the expand icon expand_code_icon.jpg to expand the list of seventh characters.

  2. Locate the applicable seventh character for the code.

  3. Click on a code to add it to the admission.

 

Remember that some codes that require a seventh character do not contain six characters. When that is the case, an X fills any missing characters.

See Also

Searching by Index

Searching by Tabular

Searching for an ICD-10-PCS Code

Searching All Occurrences of a Term

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