Skip to main content

M15.2 ICD-10-CM Code: Bouchard's nodes (with arthropathy)

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

Coding at a Glance

Tabular directives
2 inclusion terms · 1 Excludes1 · 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 553 — BONE DISEASES AND ARTHROPATHIES WITH MCC (MDC 08)
  • MS-DRG 554 — BONE DISEASES AND ARTHROPATHIES WITHOUT MCC (MDC 08)

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 M15.2 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 M15.2 itself; “inherited from” names the category or block whose note applies here.

Includes

Conditions the official ICD-10-CM tabular list includes under this code.

  • arthritis of multiple sites

Source: inherited from M15

Inclusion Terms

Alternative terms the tabular list files under this code.

  • Juxtaphalangeal distal osteoarthritis

Excludes1 — Not Coded Here

Conditions generally not reported together with this code (Excludes1) -- an error unless the two conditions are documented as unrelated to each other (ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines, Section I.A.12.a).

Source: inherited from M15

Excludes2 — Not Included Here

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

Source: inherited from M15-M19

Coder workflow for M15.2

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

Before you code M15.2

  1. M15.2’s title joins a condition with an associated condition or complication. Confirm each component is documented. Where the classification presumes the link through the “with” convention, only a provider statement that the conditions are unrelated defeats it. A combination code is assigned only when it fully identifies the documented conditions; a required second code for the stage, type or manifestation is still reported when the notes ask for it (Guidelines I.B.9, I.A.15).

    Guide: Combination codes →

  2. Check the Excludes1 note: if the documentation supports a condition named there, do not simply proceed with M15.2. Excludes1 conditions are not reported together with this code unless the record shows they are unrelated (Guidelines I.A.12.a).

    See the official tabular notes

Choose the right path

  1. Does the documentation support a condition named in M15.2’s Excludes1 note?
    Yes → Do not simply proceed: review the excluded code. Both are reported only when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated.
    No → Continue.

Consider M15.2. Then confirm the code is valid for the date of service in the Verify section.

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).
The associated condition or complication
Whether the associated condition the title names is documented; the “with” convention presumes some links, and a provider statement that the conditions are unrelated defeats it (Guidelines I.A.15).

Official instructions as workflow

  • Excludes1 — check before selecting M15.2(1 note)

    Coding workflow: If the documentation supports a condition named in this note, do not simply proceed with M15.2: the two are not reported together. The one exception is when the record shows the two conditions are unrelated to each other.

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

  • Excludes2 — not part of M15.2(1 note)

    Coding workflow: The conditions named in this note are not included in M15.2. When the record documents both, both may be reported; the note is a boundary, not a prohibition.

    CompareM47

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

Coding decision scenarios

Pattern scenarios for this code’s structure — decision rules, not clinical cases

Documentation: Both the condition M15.2 describes and a condition named in its Excludes1 note are documented for the same encounter.

Coding question: Can both codes be reported?

Path: Review the Excludes1 note and the excluded code, and look for a provider statement on whether the two conditions are related.

Reason: Excludes1 means the two are not coded together; the exception is when the record shows the conditions are unrelated to each other (Guidelines I.A.12.a).

Documentation: Only one of the components this code’s title joins is documented.

Coding question: Is M15.2 supported?

Path: Review the code for the documented component on its own.

Reason: A combination code is assigned only when it fully identifies the documented conditions; otherwise the documented component takes its own code (Guidelines I.B.9).

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

Bouchard's nodes (with arthropathy) is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (M15.2).

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 (3)

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 M15.2 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 3 Excludes1 notes: M12 — Other and unspecified arthropathy (via M15.-), M13 — Other arthritis (via M15.-), M19 — Other and unspecified osteoarthritis (via M15.-).

These codes’ tabular lists mark this diagnosis as mutually exclusive — not reported together unless the conditions are documented as unrelated.

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 553 (MDC 08), DRG 554 (MDC 08).

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

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):MUS006 — Osteoarthritis (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 (Osteoarthritis).

M15.0 — Primary generalized (osteo)arthritis, M15.1 — Heberden's nodes (with arthropathy), M15.3 — Secondary multiple arthritis, M15.4 — Erosive (osteo)arthritis, M15.8 — Other polyosteoarthritis, M15.9 — Polyosteoarthritis, unspecified, M16.0 — Bilateral primary osteoarthritis of hip, M16.10 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, unspecified hip, M16.11 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, right hip, M16.12 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, left hip, M16.2 — Bilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia, M16.30 — Unilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia, unspecified hip, M16.31 — Unilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia, right hip, M16.32 — Unilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia, left hip, M16.4 — Bilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of hip, M16.50 — Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, unspecified hip, M16.51 — Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, right hip, M16.52 — Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis, left hip, M16.6 — Other bilateral secondary osteoarthritis of hip, M16.7 — Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of hip, +77 more

Same Index main term, other category

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

B08.03 — Pseudocowpox [milker's node] (milker's), I33.0 — Acute and subacute infective endocarditis (Osler's), J38.2 — Nodules of vocal cords (singer's), J38.7 — Other diseases of larynx (larynx), M16.0 — Bilateral primary osteoarthritis of hip (hip, bilateral), M16.1 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis of hip (primary, hip), M16.2 — Bilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia (hip, bilateral, due to hip dysplasia), M16.3 — Unilateral osteoarthritis resulting from hip dysplasia (hip, due to hip dysplasia), M16.4 — Bilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of hip (hip, bilateral, post-traumatic), M16.5 — Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of hip (post-traumatic NEC, hip), M16.6 — Other bilateral secondary osteoarthritis of hip (secondary, hip, bilateral), M16.7 — Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of hip (secondary, hip), M16.9 — Osteoarthritis of hip, unspecified (hip), M17.0 — Bilateral primary osteoarthritis of knee (knee, bilateral), M17.1 — Unilateral primary osteoarthritis of knee (primary, knee), M17.2 — Bilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of knee (knee, bilateral, post-traumatic), M17.3 — Unilateral post-traumatic osteoarthritis of knee (post-traumatic NEC, knee), M17.4 — Other bilateral secondary osteoarthritis of knee (knee, bilateral, secondary), M17.5 — Other unilateral secondary osteoarthritis of knee (secondary, knee), M17.9 — Osteoarthritis of knee, unspecified (knee), +29 more

Contextual Map

Every relationship of M15.2 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 M15.2 with these 3 related codes in Claim Check

Hierarchy

Referenced by Excludes1 notes

Clinical classification (CCSR)

MS-DRG Grouper

MDC crossing

  • MDC 08 — Diseases and Disorders of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue[MDC crossing]: “Diseases and Disorders of the Musculoskeletal System and Connective Tissue — 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. 18,508 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2026

Index entries

  • Bouchard's nodes (with arthropathy)[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Node (s), Bouchard's (with arthropathy)[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2026
  • Osteoarthritis, interphalangeal, proximal (Bouchard)[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. "M15.2 — Bouchard's nodes (with arthropathy)." ICD-10-CM FY2026. https://medcoder.ai/icd10/code/m15.2-bouchards-nodes-with-arthropathy

Change history

  • FY2016 — October 1, 2015
    In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption
    Bouchard's nodes (with arthropathy)

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 M15.2 in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the M15 family