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T78.110 vs T78.119

T78.110 (Other adverse food reactions due to milk and dairy products with tolerance to baked milk) compared with T78.119 (Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified), from the official CMS tabular data.

Summary

These codes represent different levels of specificity within category T78: T78.110 is the more specific code and T78.119 is the unspecified one.

MedCoder-derived
What is different?

Title wording.The titles share “Other adverse food”; T78.110 says “reactions due to milk and dairy products with tolerance to baked milk” where T78.119 says “reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified”.

Registry fact

Can these codes be reported together?

Not ordinarily.T78.110 is the more specific code and T78.119 is the unspecified one, in the same category. When the documentation supports the more specific code, the unspecified code is not added for the same condition (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.B.18).

MedCoder-derivedGuide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS)

Is there an Excludes1 relationship?

None.Neither entry carries an Excludes1 note that names the other code. T78.110 carries 4 Excludes1 notes and T78.119 carries 3 Excludes1 notes covering other codes; the side-by-side table quotes them.

Official rule

Is there an Excludes2 relationship?

None.Neither entry carries an Excludes2 note that names the other code. T78.110 carries 7 Excludes2 notes and T78.119 carries 7 Excludes2 notes covering other codes; the side-by-side table quotes them.

Official rule

Is one more specific?

Yes.T78.110’s title names the condition; T78.119’s title is the unspecified form (“Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified”).

MedCoder-derivedGuide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS)

Is one a parent or header code?

Both are headers.Both are non-billable headers, and neither contains the other.

Registry fact

Are there sequencing instructions?

None.Neither entry carries a Code First or Use Additional Code note that names the other.

Official rule

Are there other coding relationships?

None found.No laterality, encounter-phase, Table of Neoplasms, Table of Drugs and Chemicals, or history-versus-active-disease relationship links these codes.

MedCoder-derived

Official rule: a tabular instructional note or a section of the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, quoted as published. Registry fact: the codes’ own published attributes (titles, billable status, position in the hierarchy, code set). MedCoder-derived: a reading MedCoder computes from those facts; it is not itself a rule. How to read the labels

Can these codes be reported together?

Review

Specificity relationship

T78.119
Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified
T78.110
Other adverse food reactions due to milk and dairy products with tolerance to baked milk

What we found

Not ordinarily reported together for the same condition. No Excludes1/Excludes2 relationship is listed between T78.119 and T78.110, but they describe overlapping diagnoses in the same category (Both are children of the same T78 category.).

When documentation supports the more specific code, the unspecified code should generally not be added for the same condition (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.B.18).

What to review

When the documentation supports the more specific code, report it and leave the unspecified code off for the same condition.

Guide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS)Check these on a claim

Why it matters

No Excludes note links these codes, but they describe overlapping diagnoses and one of them is unspecified. When documentation supports the more specific code, the unspecified code should generally not be added for the same condition.

Source / rule

ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.B.18

Official guidance behind these answers

  • Section I.B.18 — Use of Sign/Symptom/Unspecified Codes · applies to: Unspecified codes

    Sign/symptom and “unspecified” codes have acceptable, even necessary, uses. While specific diagnosis codes should be reported when they are supported by the available medical record documentation and clinical knowledge of the patient’s health condition, there are instances when signs/symptoms or unspecified codes are the best choices for accurately reflecting the healthcare encounter. Each healthcare encounter should be coded to the level of certainty known for that encounter. As stated in the introductory section of these official coding guidelines, a joint effort between the healthcare provider and the coder is essential to achieve complete and accurate documentation, code assignment, and reporting of diagnoses and procedures. The importance of consistent, complete documentation in the medical record cannot be overemphasized. Without such documentation accurate coding cannot be achieved. The entire record should be reviewed to determine the specific reason for the encounter and the conditions treated. If a definitive diagnosis has not been established by the end of the encounter, it is appropriate to report codes for sign(s) and/or symptom(s) in lieu of a definitive diagnosis. When sufficient clinical information isn’t known or available about a particular health condition to assign a more specific code, it is acceptable to report the appropriate “unspecified” code (e.g., a diagnosis of pneumonia has been determined, but not the specific type). […]

    ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines FY2026

  • Section I.B.2 — Level of Detail in Coding · applies to: Level of detail

    Diagnosis codes are to be used and reported at their highest number of characters available and to the highest level of specificity documented in the medical record. ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes are composed of codes with 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 characters. Codes with three characters are included in ICD-10-CM as the heading of a category of codes that may be further subdivided by the use of fourth and/or fifth characters and/or sixth characters, which provide greater detail. A three-character code is to be used only if it is not further subdivided. A code is invalid if it has not been coded to the full number of characters required for that code, including the 7th character, if applicable.

    ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines FY2026

Quoted from the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting in effect for the release shown. The tabular notes above are the code-level instruction; these sections are the convention that says how such a note is applied. Source document (CMS PDF) · Release and checksum

Side by side

T78.110Other adverse food reactions due to milk and dairy products with tolerance to baked milkT78.119Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: T78.110A, T78.110D, T78.110S

Non-billable header

Report instead: T78.119A, T78.119D, T78.119S

ClassificationS00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)S00-T88 — Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes (S00-T88)
DefinitionOther adverse food reactions due to milk and dairy products with tolerance to baked milk is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (T78.110).Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (T78.119).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T78The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T78
Excludes1
Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with reactivity to baked milk (T78.111)
anaphylactic reaction or shock due to adverse food reaction (T78.0-)
anaphylactic reaction due to food (T78.0-)
bacterial food borne intoxications (A05.-)
anaphylactic reaction or shock due to adverse food reaction (T78.0-)
anaphylactic reaction due to food (T78.0-)
bacterial food borne intoxications (A05.-)
Excludes2
allergic and dietetic gastroenteritis and colitis (K52.29)
allergic rhinitis due to food (J30.5)
dermatitis due to food in contact with skin (L23.6, L24.6, L25.4)
dermatitis due to ingested food (L27.2)
food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (K52.21)
food protein-induced enteropathy (K52.22)
complications of surgical and medical care NEC (T80-T88)
allergic and dietetic gastroenteritis and colitis (K52.29)
allergic rhinitis due to food (J30.5)
dermatitis due to food in contact with skin (L23.6, L24.6, L25.4)
dermatitis due to ingested food (L27.2)
food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (K52.21)
food protein-induced enteropathy (K52.22)
complications of surgical and medical care NEC (T80-T88)
Use additional code
code to identify the type of reaction, if applicable
code to identify the type of reaction, if applicable
Code also
, if applicable, place of occurrence, such as:
highway rest stop (Y92.523)
school (private) (public) (state) as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.21-)
service areas as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.52-)
single-family non-institutional (private) house as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.01-)
transport vehicle as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.81-)
, if applicable, place of occurrence, such as:
highway rest stop (Y92.523)
school (private) (public) (state) as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.21-)
service areas as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.52-)
single-family non-institutional (private) house as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.01-)
transport vehicle as the place of occurrence of the external cause (Y92.81-)

Notes are the code’s own tabular entry, quoted as published. A note that names the other code is the one the verdict above rests on.

Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2027). A coding-rule comparison, not billing advice: payer-specific edits and medical-necessity policy are outside its scope. All data sources