H16.021 (Ring corneal ulcer, right eye)
compared with
H16.029 (Ring corneal ulcer, unspecified eye),
from the official CMS tabular data. H16.021 and H16.029 code the same condition on opposite sides. MedCoder-derived
Same condition, opposite side.H16.021 and H16.029 name the same condition on opposite sides of the body.
Same category and title, differing only in which side is affected — the documentation decides which one applies, and a bilateral code is reported only where the code set provides one.
What to review
Report the side the documentation names. Where the code set provides a bilateral code and both sides are documented, use it instead of the pair.
These codes share a category and title and differ only in the side affected. The documentation decides which applies, and a bilateral code is reported only where the code set provides one.
Source / rule
ICD-10-CM tabular list (laterality variant derived from the code title)
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). A coding-rule comparison, not billing advice:
payer-specific edits and medical-necessity policy are outside its scope.
All data sources