Skip to main content

V90 vs W16.91XA

V90 (Drowning and submersion due to accident to watercraft) compared with W16.91XA (Jumping or diving into unspecified water causing drowning and submersion, initial encounter), 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. V90 carries an Excludes1 note covering W16.91XA: “fall into water not from watercraft (W16.-)”

Sole exception: when the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).

No — do not report together. W16.91XA carries an Excludes1 note covering V90: “fall into water from watercraft (V90-V94)”

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

V90Drowning and submersion due to accident to watercraftW16.91XAJumping or diving into unspecified water causing drowning and submersion, initial encounter
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: V90.00XA, V90.00XD, V90.00XS, V90.01XA, V90.01XD

Billable
ClassificationV00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)
DefinitionDrowning and submersion due to accident to watercraft is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (V90).Jumping or diving into unspecified water causing drowning and submersion, initial encounter is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (W16.91A).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category V90The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W16

Derived from the official CMS ICD-10-CM tabular data (FY2026). Not billing advice; verify sequencing rules for the encounter. All data sources