Z Codes 101: What you need to know for clinical documentation (2024)

What are Z codes in ICD-10-CM?

Z codes, which belong to a standardized classification system of diagnosis codes called ICD-10-CM, capture factors influencing a patient’s health status or reasons for utilizing health services that are not classifiable elsewhere as diseases, injuries, or external causes. In short, Z codes help to illustrate a patient’s comprehensive health profile and the various factors driving their healthcare needs.

Healthcare professionals can find these codes in Chapter 21: Factors influencing health status and contact with Health Services (Z00-Z99) of the ICD-10-CM coding system.

Why is it important to capture Z codes?

Z codes contribute to a comprehensive understanding of a patient’s health by connecting non-disease factors that influence an individual’s well-being. What sets these codes apart is their ability to capture a wide range of factors important to overall health that do not necessarily indicate a specific disease state. Some of the codes may be reported by various members of the care team, including case managers or social workers.

At an individual patient level, Z codes are invaluable for clinicians, aiding in the development of personalized treatment plans and preventative care strategies. Additionally, they can be used for population analytics, providing additional context to better identify factors that increase healthcare utilization and costs.

What type of information do Z codes capture?

Z codes identify a range of issues related, but not limited to, preventative health services, education, literacy, employment, housing, the ability to obtain adequate amounts of food, occupational exposure to toxic agents, body mass index ranges for all age patients, long term use of drug therapies, and more.

How are Z codes categorized?

Are Z codes reimbursable?

Until recently, Z codes minimally affected reimbursem*nt models. However, as of 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires hospitals that accept Medicare payments to screen all inpatients aged 18+ for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) as part of the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting program.

Ambulatory providers also have the option to take advantage of additional Medicare incentives for capturing SDOH. These determinants are primarily captured using ICD-10-CM codes from Z55-Z65. While SDOH Z codes were previously underutilized, there is growing recognition of their value to clinicians, researchers, public health agencies, and more. This is prompting changes in the reimbursem*nt landscape regarding Z code captures.

How will Z codes help capture SDOH?

SDOH represents environmental conditions where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, function, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that these social factors account for 30-55% of health outcomes.

Anyone in the care team can collect SDOH codes by using a screening tool that captures multiple factors of ICD-10-CM codes Z55-Z65. CMS and other federal programs can leverage these insights to inform value-based care opportunities and advocate for updating and creating new policies. This can help address health disparities, identify community needs, support quality measurements, and improve overall health outcomes.

To learn more about the potential of SDOH, check out our white paper Realizing the potential of SDOH data: A look at policy, screening, and the role of NLP.