Z04.71Encounter for examination and observation following alleged adult physical abuse

Z04.71 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for encounter for examination and observation following alleged adult physical abuse. It belongs to category Z04 (encounter for examination and observation for other reasons), 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 Z04.7 (encounter for examination and observation following alleged physical abuse), Z04.71 is specifically for encounter for examination and observation following alleged adult physical abuse. Related codes cover child physical abuse (Z04.72).

Don't report Z04.71 together with the conditions in its Excludes1 note: confirmed case of adult physical abuse (T74.-), encounter for examination and observation following alleged adult sexual abuse (Z04.41) and suspected case of adult physical abuse, not ruled out (T76.-).

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 951 (Other Factors Influencing Health Status, relative weight 0.5577), in 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 15 through 124.

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

Before ICD-10, this condition was coded in ICD-9-CM as V71.81 (observation and evaluation for suspected abuse and neglect).