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Compare/W19 vs W31

W19 vs W31

W19 (Unspecified fall) compared with W31 (Contact with other and unspecified machinery), 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. W19 carries an Excludes1 note covering W31: “fall (in) (from) machinery (in operation) (W28-W31)”

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

W19Unspecified fallW31Contact with other and unspecified machinery
Billing statusNon-billable header

Report instead: W19.XXXA, W19.XXXD, W19.XXXS

Non-billable header

Report instead: W31.0XXA, W31.0XXD, W31.0XXS, W31.1XXA, W31.1XXD

ClassificationV00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)V00-Y99 — External Causes of Morbidity (V00-Y99)
DefinitionUnspecified fall is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W19).Contact with other and unspecified machinery is a non-billable ICD-10-CM category code (W31).
7th characterThe appropriate 7th character is to be added to code W19The appropriate 7th character is to be added to each code from category W31
Includes
Accidental fall NOS

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