T78.119 vs T78.119A
T78.119 (Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified) compared with T78.119A (Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified, initial encounter), from the official CMS tabular data.
Summary
These codes represent different levels of the same hierarchy: T78.119 is the non-billable header that contains T78.119A, so only T78.119A (or a sibling) is reported.
Registry fact- What is different?
Title wording and billing status.T78.119A’s title adds “initial encounter” to the wording the two share (“Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified”). T78.119 is a non-billable header; T78.119A is billable.
Registry fact
- Can these codes be reported together?
Not as a pair.T78.119 is the non-billable header that contains T78.119A. A header is not reported on a claim, so the choice is T78.119A or a sibling that matches the documentation.
Registry fact
- Is there an Excludes1 relationship?
None.Neither entry carries an Excludes1 note that names the other code. T78.119 carries 3 Excludes1 notes and T78.119A 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. T78.119 carries 7 Excludes2 notes and T78.119A carries 7 Excludes2 notes covering other codes; the side-by-side table quotes them.
Official rule
- Is one more specific?
Yes.T78.119A is a subdivision of T78.119 in the tabular hierarchy, so it is the more specific of the two.
Registry fact
- Is one a parent or header code?
Yes.T78.119 is the non-billable header that contains T78.119A. A header stands for the whole family beneath it and is not reported on a claim.
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?
Not as a pair — T78.119 is not reportable. T78.119 is the non-billable category that contains T78.119A.
A header stands for the whole family of codes beneath it and is not reported on a claim, so the choice is T78.119A or a sibling that matches the documentation. No Excludes1/Excludes2 relationship exists between these codes in the official tabular list.
Official guidance behind these answers
Section I.B.2 — Level of Detail in Coding · applies to: T78.119 and T78.119A
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
| T78.119Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified | T78.119AOther adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified, initial encounter | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Non-billable header | Billable |
| Classification | S00-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) |
| Definition | 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). | Other adverse food reaction due to milk and dairy products with baked milk tolerance/reactivity, unspecified, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T78.119A). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T78 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T78 |
| Excludes1 | 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