T81.44XA vs T81.44XD
T81.44XA (Sepsis following a procedure, initial encounter) compared with T81.44XD (Sepsis following a procedure, subsequent encounter), from the official CMS tabular data. T81.44XA and T81.44XD code the same injury at a different phase of treatment.
Can these codes be reported together?
Same injury, other encounter phase. T81.44XA and T81.44XD code the same injury at a different phase of treatment, set by the 7th character.
The 7th character records the type of care given at the encounter being coded (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.C.19.a), so one encounter takes one of these, not both.
Side by side
| T81.44XASepsis following a procedure, initial encounter | T81.44XDSepsis following a procedure, subsequent encounter | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing status | Billable | 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 | Sepsis following a procedure, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.44A). | Sepsis following a procedure, subsequent encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (T81.44D). |
| 7th character | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T81 | The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category T81 |
| Use additional code | code to identify the sepsis code to identify infection code (R65.2-) to identify severe sepsis, if applicable | code to identify the sepsis code to identify infection code (R65.2-) to identify severe sepsis, if applicable |
Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources