Coding COVID-19 exposure

When asymptomatic patients request evaluation for suspected exposure to a communicable disease, use a code from the ICD-10 category Z20. These codes are for patients who have either had close personal contact with an infected individual or are in an area where the disease is epidemic. When the communicable disease in question is COVID-19, the appropriate ICD-10 code is Z20.828, “Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other viral communicable diseases.”

This code should be used when the patient is not diagnosed with COVID-19 but the exposure remains suspected. There are other codes for when the patient receives a COVID-19 diagnosis (U.07.1) and when the suspected exposure is ruled out after evaluation (Z03.818). For a flowchart to help with COVID-19 coding, click here.

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