J96Respiratory failure, not elsewhere classified

J96 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for respiratory failure, not elsewhere classified. It belongs to block J96-J99 (other diseases of the respiratory system) and chapter 10 (diseases of the respiratory system). It is a header code, so it can't be reported by itself; one of its 4 subcodes must be used instead.

To report this condition, pick the subcode that matches the documentation: J96.0 (failure), J96.1 (failure), J96.2 (failure) and J96.9 (unspecified).

Don't report J96 together with the conditions in its Excludes1 note: acute respiratory distress syndrome (J80), cardiorespiratory failure (R09.2), newborn respiratory distress syndrome (P22.0), postprocedural respiratory failure (J95.82-) and 3 more.

It has been part of ICD-10-CM since the code set took effect on October 1, 2015 and hasn't changed since.