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L85.3 ICD-10-CM Code: Xerosis cutis

Billing Status: YES. This is a valid, specific, and billable ICD-10-CM reference.

Coding at a Glance

Tabular directives
1 inclusion term · 1 Excludes2

Inpatient Payment Groups (MS-DRG)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

MS-DRGs this diagnosis helps define, as principal or secondary, per the CMS ICD-10-CM/PCS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v43, Appendix B.

  • MS-DRG 606 — MINOR SKIN DISORDERS WITH MCC (MDC 09)
  • MS-DRG 607 — MINOR SKIN DISORDERS WITHOUT MCC (MDC 09)

A diagnosis appearing in a group's logic does not by itself determine the DRG assigned to a stay; the grouper uses the full claim.

Coding instructions

Official Tabular Instructional Notes: the inclusion, exclusion and sequencing notes published for L85.3 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list, quoted as published.

Source: CMS/CDC — ICD-10-CM Tabular ListRelease: FY2026Effective: October 1, 2025

Notes without a marker are published on L85.3 itself; “inherited from” names the category or block whose note applies here.

Inclusion Terms

Alternative terms the tabular list files under this code.

  • Dry skin dermatitis

Excludes2 — Not Included Here

Conditions not covered by this code, but which may be reported alongside it when both are present.

Source: inherited from L85

Coder workflow for L85.3

MedCoder structured workflow — derived from this code’s own official record

Documentation check

The provider’s diagnostic statement
Codes are assigned from the provider’s documented diagnosis, not from clinical criteria, test values or a medication list (Guidelines I.A.19).

Official instructions as workflow

  • Excludes2 — not part of L85.3(1 note)

    Coding workflow: The conditions named in this note are not included in L85.3. When the record documents both, both may be reported; the note is a boundary, not a prohibition.

    CompareL91

    See the official tabular notes · Guidelines I.A.12.b

Every row is derived from this code’s own record — its title, tabular notes, 7th-character family and same-category siblings — with fixed MedCoder wording; nothing is inferred about a patient. The official notes and guideline text are in the sections each row links to, and they control.

Code Overview

Xerosis cutis is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (L85.3).

MedCoder summary Summary composed by MedCoder from this code's official ICD-10-CM record. The tabular instructional notes themselves appear verbatim below.

Indexed Clinical Terms (5)

Official source data — entries quoted as published, in the Index’s own lookup phrasing

Clinical term phrases from the official ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries that map to this code. These are alphabetic-index entries shown as the Index writes them — lookup phrasing, not necessarily the wording of a final diagnosis.

Verify Before Coding

  • No Medicare Code Editor or MS-DRG Definitions Manual restrictions apply to this code.

From the code registry, the Medicare Code Editor, and the MS-DRG Definitions Manual. Check it against a full claim in Claim Check.

Relationships & Classification

MedCoder structured relationships — computed from published CMS and AHRQ datasets

Other codes that name L85.3 or its code family, from the CMS ICD-10-CM tabular instructional notes. Tabular-note edges are stored at the code family level that carries each note.

Referenced by 12 Excludes2 notes: L20 — Atopic dermatitis, L20-L30 — Dermatitis and eczema (L20-L30), L21 — Seborrheic dermatitis, L22 — Diaper dermatitis, L23 — Allergic contact dermatitis, L24 — Irritant contact dermatitis, L25 — Unspecified contact dermatitis, L26 — Exfoliative dermatitis, L27 — Dermatitis due to substances taken internally, L28 — Lichen simplex chronicus and prurigo, L29 — Pruritus, L30 — Other and unspecified dermatitis.

These codes’ tabular lists name this diagnosis as distinct — both may be reported when both are documented.

MS-DRG Grouper Relationships (FY2026)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

FY2026 MS-DRG: not on the CMS CC/MCC list — as a secondary diagnosis this code does not change MS-DRG severity for that release.

Named in the grouper logic of 2 MS-DRGs: DRG 606 (MDC 09), DRG 607 (MDC 09).

From the CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (Appendices B and C). Actual DRG assignment depends on the complete claim.

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):SKN007 — Other specified and unspecified skin disorders (default).

Clinical Classifications Software Refined (CCSR) for ICD-10-CM Diagnoses. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Related Codes

Same clinical category (CCSR)

AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software groups these diagnoses under the same clinical category (Other specified and unspecified skin disorders).

L81.7 — Pigmented purpuric dermatosis, L81.8 — Other specified disorders of pigmentation, L81.9 — Disorder of pigmentation, unspecified, L82.0 — Inflamed seborrheic keratosis, L82.1 — Other seborrheic keratosis, L83 — Acanthosis nigricans, L84 — Corns and callosities, L85.0 — Acquired ichthyosis, L85.1 — Acquired keratosis [keratoderma] palmaris et plantaris, L85.2 — Keratosis punctata (palmaris et plantaris), L85.8 — Other specified epidermal thickening, L85.9 — Epidermal thickening, unspecified, L86 — Keratoderma in diseases classified elsewhere, L87.0 — Keratosis follicularis et parafollicularis in cutem penetrans, L87.1 — Reactive perforating collagenosis, L87.2 — Elastosis perforans serpiginosa, L87.8 — Other transepidermal elimination disorders, L87.9 — Transepidermal elimination disorder, unspecified, L90.0 — Lichen sclerosus et atrophicus, L90.1 — Anetoderma of Schweninger-Buzzi, +137 more

Same Index main term, other category

The ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries files this code under the main terms “Dermatitis”, “Skin”; these codes share that main term but sit in a different category of the Tabular List.

L30.8 — Other specified dermatitis (hiemalis), L30.9 — Dermatitis, unspecified, L40.2 — Acrodermatitis continua (repens), L52 — Erythema nodosum (contusiformis), L56.2 — Photocontact dermatitis [berloque dermatitis] (photocontact), L56.8 — Other specified acute skin changes due to ultraviolet radiation (ultraviolet, acute), L57.8 — Other skin changes due to chronic exposure to nonionizing radiation (solare), L58.0 — Acute radiodermatitis (due to, radium, acute), L58.1 — Chronic radiodermatitis (due to, radium, chronic), L58.9 — Radiodermatitis, unspecified (due to, X-rays), L59.0 — Erythema ab igne [dermatitis ab igne] (heat), L59.8 — Other specified disorders of the skin and subcutaneous tissue related to radiation (due to, radiation), L71.0 — Perioral dermatitis (perioral), L73.0 — Acne keloid (papillaris capillitii), L81.7 — Pigmented purpuric dermatosis (Schamberg's), L98.1 — Factitial dermatitis (artefacta), M35.9 — Systemic involvement of connective tissue, unspecified (hidebound), N94.6 — Dysmenorrhea, unspecified (dysmenorrheica), R23.1 — Pallor (clammy), T69.1 — Chilblains (congelationis), +104 more

Lab tests where this diagnosis supports Medicare coverage (NCD)

Medicare's National Coverage Determination (NCD) program lists this diagnosis as medical justification for these lab tests.

HIV Screening Test

Contextual Map

Every relationship of L85.3 in one view: hierarchy, official tabular instructions in both directions, clinical classification, risk adjustment, MS-DRG participation, index terms and change history — each edge carrying the CMS source it derives from.

Run L85.3 with these 8 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

Referenced by Excludes2 notes (12)

Clinical classification (CCSR)

MS-DRG Grouper

MDC crossing

  • MDC 09 — Diseases and Disorders of the Skin, Subcutaneous Tissue and Breast[MDC crossing]: “Diseases and Disorders of the Skin, Subcutaneous Tissue and Breast — the grouper's crossing between diagnoses and procedures: a principal diagnosis sets the MDC, and same-MDC procedures move the stay to its surgical DRGs. 7,376 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2026

Index entries

  • Asteatosis cutis[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Dermatitis (eczematous), dry skin[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Skin, dry[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Xerosis, cutis (dry skin)[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Xerosis, skin[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026

Nearest codes

Change history

  • FY2016 — In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption [Change history]— CMS release files (code change ledger) · icd10cm-fy2016

Sources for this page

Codes, titles, notes, index terms and mappings on this page are transcribed from the datasets below. Relationships MedCoder computed and text MedCoder wrote are labelled where they appear.

Code, title, tabular notes and index terms Official source data
CMS/CDC ICD-10-CM FY2026 tabular list, index and tables, effective October 1, 2025 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Claim edits Official source data
CMS Definitions of Medicare Code Edits — v43.1 (April 2026) Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Inpatient payment groups Official source data
CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (incl. Appendix B diagnosis index, Appendix C CC/MCC list, Appendix E procedure index) and IPPS Final Rule tables — v43 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Change history and date-of-service validity Official source data
CMS ICD-10-CM release addenda, ingested release by release into the change ledger Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Comparisons, relationships and the contextual map MedCoder structured relationship
Computed by MedCoder from the tabular notes and tables above; every derived relationship is marked as derived where it appears
Summary and FAQ answers MedCoder explanation
Written by MedCoder to explain the sources above: drafted with AI assistance, checked by a person against the release files, and labelled as MedCoder text where it appears. Not official text.

Labels on this page: Official source data · MedCoder structured relationship · MedCoder explanation. How to read the labels · All data sources and release dates

Cite this page

Reference this page in a research guide, syllabus or article. The release is included because code content changes each year.

MedCoder.ai. "L85.3 — Xerosis cutis." ICD-10-CM FY2026. https://medcoder.ai/icd10/code/l85.3-xerosis-cutis

Change history

  • FY2016 — October 1, 2015
    In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption
    Xerosis cutis

No changes since FY2016 — additions, deletions, description changes and billable-status changes are tracked through FY2027 (effective October 1, 2026), and none are recorded for this code. Note changes are tracked from FY2027 only.

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to L85.3 in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the L85 family