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ICD-10/Z20.822

Z20.822 ICD-10-CM Code: Contact with and (suspected) exposure to COVID-19

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

Inpatient Payment Groups (MS-DRG)

MS-DRGs this diagnosis helps define, as principal or secondary, per the CMS ICD-10-CM/PCS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v43.0, Appendix B.

  • MS-DRG 795 — NORMAL NEWBORN (MDC 15)
  • MS-DRG 951 — OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH STATUS (MDC 23)

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.

Official Registry Overview & Definition

Contact with and (suspected) exposure to COVID-19 is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (Z20.822).

Official Tabular Instructional Notes

Sequencing, inclusion, and exclusion notes published for Z20.822 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list.

Inclusion Terms

Alternative terms the tabular list files under this code.

  • Contact with and (suspected) exposure to SARS-CoV-2

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).

  • carrier of infectious disease (Z22.-) Compare Z20.822 vs Z22 →
  • diagnosed current infectious or parasitic disease -see Alphabetic Index

Excludes2 — Not Included Here

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

Change history

  • FY2022 — 2021-10-01
    Added to the code set
    Contact with and (suspected) exposure to COVID-19
    FY2022 changes

Verify Before Coding

  • Billable — reportable as written.
  • Principal-diagnosis restriction. The Medicare Code Editor lists this code as unacceptable as a principal diagnosis: it describes a circumstance influencing health status rather than a current illness or injury being treated. It is valid as a secondary diagnosis.

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

Contextual Map

Every relationship of Z20.822 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.

Hierarchy

  • Z20.82 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other viral communicable diseases [Hierarchy]

Referenced by Excludes2 notes

  • Z77 — Other contact with and (suspected) exposures hazardous to health [Excludes2](via Z20.-): “contact with and (suspected) exposure to communicable diseases (Z20.-)”
  • Z83 — Family history of other specific disorders [Excludes2](via Z20.-): “contact with and (suspected) exposure to communicable disease in the family (Z20.-)”

Referenced by Use Additional Code instructions

  • M35.81 — Multisystem inflammatory syndrome [Use Additional Code]: “exposure to COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 infection (Z20.822)”

Clinical classification (CCSR)

  • FAC016 — Exposure, encounters, screening or contact with infectious disease [CCSR]

Potential MS-DRG

  • DRG 795 — NORMAL NEWBORN [MS-DRG]: “NORMAL NEWBORN (MDC 15)”
  • DRG 951 — OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH STATUS [MS-DRG]: “OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING HEALTH STATUS (MDC 23)”

Index entries

  • Contact (with), coronavirus… — Contact (with), coronavirus2019 (disease) (novel) [Index term]
  • Contact (with), COVID-19[Index term]
  • Contact (with), SARS-CoV-2[Index term]
  • COVID-19, contact (with)[Index term]
  • COVID-19, exposure (to)[Index term]
  • Exposure (to), coronavirus2… — Exposure (to), coronavirus2019 (disease) (novel) [Index term]
  • Exposure (to), COVID-19[Index term]
  • Exposure (to), SARS-CoV-2[Index term]

Nearest codes (22)

  • Z20 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to communicable diseases [Sibling]
  • Z20.0 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to intestinal infectious diseases [Sibling]
  • Z20.01 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to intestinal infectious diseases due to Escherichia coli (E. coli) [Sibling]
  • Z20.09 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other intestinal infectious diseases [Sibling]
  • Z20.1 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to tuberculosis [Sibling]
  • Z20.2 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to infections with a predominantly sexual mode of transmission [Sibling]
  • Z20.3 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to rabies [Sibling]
  • Z20.4 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to rubella [Sibling]
  • and 14 more

Change history

  • FY2022 — Added to the code set [Change history]

Referenced by Other Codes

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):FAC016 — Exposure, encounters, screening or contact with infectious disease (default).

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

Potential MS-DRG Relationships (FY2026)

Not on the CMS CC/MCC list — as a secondary diagnosis this code does not change MS-DRG severity.

Named in the grouper logic of 2 MS-DRGs: DRG 795 (MDC 15), DRG 951 (MDC 23).

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

Official ICD-10-CM tabular notes on other codes that name Z20.822 or its code family.

2 Excludes2 notes: Z77 (via Z20.-), Z83 (via Z20.-).

1 Use Additional Code instructions: M35.81.

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to Z20.822 in its code family, with their registry titles.

  • Z20.81 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other bacterial communicable diseases
  • Z20.810 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to anthrax
  • Z20.811 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to meningococcus
  • Z20.818 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other bacterial communicable diseases
  • Z20.82 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other viral communicable diseases
  • Z20.820 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to varicella
  • Z20.821 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to Zika virus
  • Z20.828 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other viral communicable diseases
  • Z20.89 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other communicable diseases
  • Z20.9 — Contact with and (suspected) exposure to unspecified communicable disease

View all codes in the Z20 family

Indexed Clinical Terms (8)

Clinical term phrases from the official ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries that map to this code.

  • Contact (with), coronavirus2019 (disease) (novel)
  • Contact (with), COVID-19
  • Contact (with), SARS-CoV-2
  • COVID-19, contact (with)
  • COVID-19, exposure (to)
  • Exposure (to), coronavirus2019 (disease) (novel)
  • Exposure (to), COVID-19
  • Exposure (to), SARS-CoV-2