Q16.0 vs Q17
Q16.0 (Congenital absence of (ear) auricle) compared with Q17 (Other congenital malformations of ear), from the official CMS tabular data. Do not report these codes together: the official tabular list marks them Excludes1.
Can these codes be reported together?
No — do not report together. Q17 carries an Excludes1 note covering Q16.0: “congenital malformations of ear with impairment of hearing (Q16.0-Q16.9)”
Sole exception: when the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).
Side by side
| Q16.0Congenital absence of (ear) auricle | Q17Other congenital malformations of ear | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Billable | Non-billable header |
| Classification | Q00-Q99 — Congenital Malformations, Deformations and Chromosomal Abnormalities (Q00-Q99) | Q00-Q99 — Congenital Malformations, Deformations and Chromosomal Abnormalities (Q00-Q99) |
| Definition | Congenital absence of (ear) auricle is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (Q16.0). | Other congenital malformations of ear is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (Q17). |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources