Basics of Norovirus infection ICD-10 CM Coding

Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea. It is possible to develop immunity to specific types of Noroviruses, according to CDC.

ICD-10 code A08.11 for Acute gastroenteropathy due to Norwalk agent is a medical classification as listed by WHO under the range – Certain infectious and parasitic diseases.

A08.11 is a billable/specific ICD-10-CM code that can be used to indicate a diagnosis for reimbursement purposes.

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Causes of Norovirus infection ICD-10 CM Coding

It is caused by:

• Direct contact with an infected person
• Consuming contaminated food or water
• Touching contaminated surfaces
• Symptoms

Common symptoms of Norovirus infection ICD-10 CM Coding

• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Stomach pain
• Vomiting

Approximate Synonyms

• Norwalk or norwalk-like virus infection
• Viral gastroenteritis due to norwalk-like agents

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Documentation & Norovirus infection ICD-10 CM Coding

Norovirus is reported using ICD-10-CM code A08.11 (acute gastroenteropathy due to Norwalk agent). There is an Excludes1 note for all codes in the category A08.- (viral and other specified intestinal infections) for the following codes: 

• J09.X3, influenza due to identified novel influenza A virus with gastrointestinal manifestations
• J10.2, influenza due to other identified influenza with gastrointestinal manifestations 
• J11.2, influenza due to unidentified influenza virus with gastrointestinal manifestations

Codes in Chapter 1 (A00-B99) has an instruction to “use additional code” to identify resistance to antimicrobial drugs (Z16.-). There is also an Excludes1 note for certain localized infections and an Excludes2 note for the following codes: 

• carrier or suspected carrier of infectious disease (Z22.-)
• infectious and parasitic diseases complicating pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O98.-)
• infectious and parasitic diseases specific to the perinatal period (P35-P39)
• influenza and other acute respiratory infections (J00-J22)

Excludes1 notes indicate which codes should never be reported together, while Excludes2 notes show which codes can be reported together, given the proper specificity and documentation. 

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Basic ICD-10 INFORMATION

World Health Organization (WHO) authorized the publication of the International Classification of Diseases External 10th Revision (ICD-10), which was implemented for mortality coding and classification from death certificates in the U.S. in 1999. The U.S. developed a Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) for medical diagnoses based on WHO’s ICD-10.  This medical classification list is generated by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is used to help healthcare providers identify and code health conditions.