Is ICD-10-CM code R17 billable?

Yes, R17 (Unspecified jaundice) is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code, valid for reimbursement on HIPAA-covered transactions for FY2027.

What chapter does ICD-10-CM code R17 belong to?

R17 belongs to Chapter 18 of the ICD-10-CM tabular list: R00–R99 (Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory Findings).

R17Billable, valid for claims from October 1, 2026

Unspecified jaundice

In Symptoms and signs involving the digestive system and abdomen (R10-R19), chapter 18: Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory Findings

R17 is an unspecified code: use it only when the record doesn't document anything more specific. If the record has more detail, check the other codes under R10-R19 below.
As a secondary diagnosis it is a CC (complication or comorbidity), which can raise the MS-DRG payment. It doesn't count when the principal diagnosis is one of 21 closely related codes.
Doesn't count toward a Medicare Advantage risk score (no HCC in V28).
AHRQ's Chronic Condition Indicator classes it as not chronic (an acute or short-term condition).

Also indexed as: Elevated, liver function, test, bilirubin; Icterus, conjunctiva; Jaundice; Jaundice, cholestatic; Jaundice, symptomatic

Instructional notes

Excludes1: not coded here, use a different code

neonatal jaundice (P55, P57-P59)

Also applies, from Symptoms and signs involving the digestive system and abdomen (R10-R19)

These notes sit on R10-R19 and apply to every code under it, including R17.

Excludes2: not included here, code separately if applicable

congenital or infantile pylorospasm (Q40.0)
gastrointestinal hemorrhage (K92.0-K92.2)
intestinal obstruction (K56.-)
newborn gastrointestinal hemorrhage (P54.0-P54.3)
newborn intestinal obstruction (P76.-)
pylorospasm (K31.3)
signs and symptoms involving the urinary system (R30-R39)
symptoms referable to female genital organs (N94.-)
symptoms referable to male genital organs (N48-N50)

Official coding guidelines

From the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, FY 2027 (CMS and NCHS). Links open the PDF at the right page.

Covers when to report symptom, sign, and abnormal finding codes (R00-R99), plus specific rules for falls, coma scales, non-infectious SIRS, death NOS, and NIHSS scores.

Use of symptom codes (page 75)
Use of a symptom code with a definitive diagnosis code (page 75)
Combination codes that include symptoms (page 75)
Repeated falls (page 76)
Coma (page 76)
Functional quadriplegia (page 76)
SIRS due to Non-Infectious Process (page 77)
Death NOS (page 77)

Read Section I.C.18 (page 75), 1 more topics

Other codes under R10-R19

Symptoms and signs involving the digestive system and abdomen (R10-R19)

R17 MS-DRGs

As the principal diagnosis, R17 groups to MS-DRG 441, 442, or 443 (v44.0). Which one applies depends on procedures performed, secondary diagnoses (CC/MCC), and the patient's age and discharge status.

Related conditions

Grouped by AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software Refined (CCSR), which sorts every diagnosis code into clinically meaningful categories.

R17 is in Abdominal pain and other digestive/abdomen signs and symptoms (SYM006, its default category), with 78 codes. Others in it:

G43.D0 Abdominal migraine, not intractable
G43.D1 Abdominal migraine, intractable
R10.0 Acute abdomen
R10.10 Upper abdominal pain, unspecified
R10.11 Right upper quadrant pain
R10.12 Left upper quadrant pain
R10.13 Epigastric pain
R10.20 Pelvic and perineal pain unspecified side

Medicare coverage articles listing R17

These 4 Medicare billing and coding articles list R17 as a diagnosis that supports medical necessity for the services they cover. From the CMS Medicare Coverage Database; check your own contractor's article before billing.

Other codes that refer to R17

Notes on these codes point to R17.

D89.81 Use Additional Code: elevated bilirubin (R17)
K70-K77 Excludes1: jaundice NOS (R17)

About the condition

Plain-language background from MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine), not coding guidance.

Jaundice

Jaundice causes your skin and the whites of your eyes to turn yellow. Too much bilirubin causes jaundice. Bilirubin is a yellow chemical in hemoglobin, the substance that carries oxygen in your red blood cells. As red blood cells break down, your body builds new cells to replace them. The old ones are processed by the liver. If the liver cannot handle the blood cells as they break down, bilirubin builds up in the body and your skin may look yellow.

Code history

Valid since FY2016, when ICD-10-CM took effect on October 1, 2015. No changes since.

ICD-9-CM equivalent

Legacy crosswalk from the CMS General Equivalence Mappings (last updated 2018).

782.4 Jaundice, unspecified, not of newborn

ICD-9 to ICD-10 converter