Z02.84Encounter for child welfare exam

Z02.84 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for encounter for child welfare exam. It belongs to category Z02 (encounter for administrative examination), block Z00-Z13 (persons encountering health services for examinations) and chapter 21 (factors influencing health status and contact with health services). It is billable, so it can be reported on its own for dates of service from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

Within Z02.8 (encounter for other administrative examinations), Z02.84 is specifically for encounter for child welfare exam. Related codes cover paternity testing (Z02.81), adoption services (Z02.82), blood-alcohol and blood-drug test (Z02.83) and other administrative examinations (Z02.89).

The conditions in its Excludes2 note aren't part of Z02.84, but may be coded alongside it if the patient has both: encounter for examination and observation for alleged child physical abuse (Z04.72) and encounter for examination and observation for alleged child rape (Z04.42).

It is not a CC or MCC, so as a secondary diagnosis it doesn't change the MS-DRG severity level.

In MS-DRG v44.0, it is part of the grouping logic for DRG 795 (Normal Newborn, relative weight 0.2022) and DRG 951 (Other Factors Influencing Health Status, relative weight 0.5577), in MDC 15 (Newborns and Other Neonates with Conditions Originating in the Perinatal Period) and MDC 23 (Factors Influencing Health Status and Other Contacts with Health Services), as a principal or secondary diagnosis. The DRG a claim lands in depends on the principal diagnosis, procedures and any CC/MCC secondary diagnoses.

The Medicare Code Editor expects this diagnosis only for patients age 0 through 17; other ages trigger an age-conflict edit.

It is not acceptable as the principal diagnosis for an inpatient stay; it may be reported as a secondary diagnosis.

It is exempt from present-on-admission (POA) reporting, so no POA indicator is required.

It was added in FY2024, effective October 1, 2023.