F17 ICD-10-CM Code: Nicotine dependence

F17 is the ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for nicotine dependence. F17 sits in the ICD-10-CM chapter for mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders (f01-f99), within the section covering mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use (f10-f19).

Header codes like F17 cannot be reported on claims directly, they organize child codes that share clinical context but the actual diagnosis must be coded to the highest level of specificity supported by the documentation. Coders should look at F17's child codes and select the one that matches the patient's documented presentation, since payers reject header codes submitted as the primary diagnosis. For risk adjustment workflows, header codes never contribute to a Medicare Advantage member's RAF score on their own; only billable child codes that happen to map to a payment HCC affect risk-adjusted plan payments.