50+ Funny ICD-10 Codes That Will Make You Laugh

Anything that can happen to you that causes illness or injury has a code associated with it. You might think I am being facetious, but stay tuned for the proof in the pudding.

You know how after you see a healthcare provider, you then receive a bill for the services received? Well, what you might not know is that there is a lot of nuance that goes into creating an accurate bill. It’s a lengthy process to create the bill, correctly code your diagnosis, symptoms, and procedures.

This is where the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) comes into play. If you’re a medical biller, then you are all too familiar with these codes. There are thousands of them and each helps classify different medical diagnoses. ICD is currently on its 10th revision (ICD-10), including clinical modification (CM) for medical diagnoses.

Put it all together, you’ve got the most recent updated version ICD-10 CM. Let’s get into the role ICD-10 CM plays in healthcare billing as well as some of the most interesting codes available today.

The Role of ICD-10 Codes in Healthcare Billing

The ICD-10 CM publication has periodic revisions to reflect changes in the medical and healthcare field. Before this revision, the US had been using ICD-9. This was the primary source of diagnostic information since the 1970s. It wasn’t until 2015 that this was finally updated to ICD-10.

Since the healthcare industry is always changing, it makes sense that it would need updates after over thirty years. The content of ICD-9 had limited data and was restrictive for coding, and new versions include more specific definitions.

The organization has since decided to update these classifications and codes more frequently. Note that while globally we have started to use new codes through ICD-11, in the US we still refer to ICD-10.

If you look through the current revision, some of these diagnosis codes are hard to take seriously. It makes you wonder what outrageous circumstances caused the need for the reclassified codes. Some of these are also non-billable because they have even more specific classifications.

We took a look through the ICD-10 CM handbook and found some of the funniest codes that will make you laugh out loud.

What Are Some of the Funniest ICD-10 Codes?

Animals

• W53 - Contact with rodent
• W55.2 - Contact with cow
• W55.21 - Bitten by cow
• W55.41 - Bitten by pig
• W56.12 - Struck by sea lion
• W56.22XS - Struck by orca, sequela
• W56.52XA - Struck by other fish, initial encounter
• W59.22 - Struck by a turtle
• W61.12XD - Struck by macaw, subsequent encounter
• W61.39 - Other contact with chicken
• W61.43 - Pecked by turkey
• T63.443 - Toxic effect of venom of bees, assault
• T63.621 - Toxic effect of contact with other jellyfish, accidental (unintentional)

ICD-10 Codes Specific to Transportation & Collision

• V00.01 - Pedestrian on foot injured in collision with roller-skater
• V00.151 - Fall from heelies
• V80.1 - Animal-rider or occupant of animal-drawn vehicle injured in collision with pedestrian or animal
• Y93.01 - Activity, walking, marching and hiking
• V94.810 - Civilian watercraft involved in water transport accident with military watercraft
• V96.00XA - Unspecified balloon accident injuring occupant, initial encounter
• V97.33 - Sucked into jet engine
• W22.02 - Walked into lamp post
• W37.0XXA - Explosion of bicycle tire, initial encounter

ICD-10 Codes Including Hobbies

• W27.4XXD - Contact with kitchen utensil, subsequent encounter
• V91.07 - Burn due to water-skis on fire
• Y92.017 - Garden or yard in single-family (private) house as the place of occurrence of the external cause
• Y92.241 - Library as the place of occurrence of the external cause
• Y92.253 - Opera house as the place of occurrence of the external cause
• Y92.72 - Chicken coop as the place of occurrence of the external cause
• Y93.02 - Activity, running
• Y93.G3 - Activity involving cooking and baking
• Y93.D - Activities involved arts and handcrafts
• Y93.D1 - Activity, knitting and crocheting
• V98.3 - Accident to, on or involving ski lift

ICD-10 Codes in Love & Relationships

• W45.8XXA - Other foreign body or object entering through skin, initial encounter
• R00.2 - Palpitations
• R46.1 - Bizarre personal appearance
• Z60.4 - Social exclusion and rejection
• Z62.89 - Sibling rivalry
• Z63.1 - Problems in relationship with in-laws

Interesting Seasonal ICD-10 Codes

• L55.0 - Sunburn of first degree
• W16.722 - Jumping or diving from boat striking bottom causing other injury
• W17.3 - Fall into empty swimming pool
• W39 - Discharge of firework
• X03 - Exposure to controlled fire, not in building or structure
• V00.211A - Fall from ice-skates, initial encounter

Other Weird ICD-10 Codes

• R14.3 - Flatulence causing injury
• Y92.146 - Swimming-pool of prison as the place of occurrence of the external cause
• Z73.1 - Type A behavior pattern
• V91.07XA - Burn due to water-skis on fire, initial encounter
• V97.21 - Parachutist entangled in object
• X52 - Prolonged stay in weightless environment

How Do ICD-10 Codes Affect Medical Billing?

After looking through some of these strange ICD-10 codes, you might have a better understanding of how complex medical coding is. As well as how diverse patient care can be.

We don’t usually think about how detailed our diagnosis affects the billing process. But some codes aren’t billable, such as W59.22, Struck by turtle. Instead, they have more specific classifications including for initial and subsequent encounters.

Even the most outrageous codes have logic behind them. They make it easier to classify situations and certain instances have made them necessary to add. But these funny ICD-10 codes can make us laugh as we wonder what happened to cause those doctor visits.

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