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J42

Billable

Unspecified chronic bronchitis

HCC Category Mapping

V28HCC 280 — Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
0.334
V24HCC 111 — Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
0.334
ESRDHCC 111 — Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
0.000
RxHCCHCC 229 — COPD and Chronic Bronchitis
0.000

What This Code Means

A long-term inflammation of the airways without specification of the type of mucus production or other distinguishing characteristics.

Coding Tips

  • •This is a non-specific chronic bronchitis code; query the provider for more detail about sputum characteristics to use J41.0, J41.1, or J41.8
  • •Use only when the specific type of chronic bronchitis cannot be determined from documentation

Clinical Significance

Unspecified chronic bronchitis is used when the provider documents chronic bronchitis without specifying whether the sputum is mucoid, purulent, or mixed. While it carries the same HCC mapping as the specified subtypes, coders should query for specificity when possible to improve documentation quality.

Documentation Requirements

  • ✓Provider documentation explicitly stating 'chronic bronchitis'
  • ✓Duration criteria met: cough with sputum production for at least 3 months in 2 consecutive years
  • ✓Current symptom status and any exacerbations
  • ✓Treatment plan for chronic bronchitis management
  • ✓Exclusion of other causes of chronic cough

Excludes 1 — Do NOT code together

  • bronchiolitis obliterans and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (J44.81)
  • chronic asthmatic bronchitis (J44.-)
  • chronic bronchitis with airways obstruction (J44.-)
  • chronic emphysematous bronchitis (J44.-)
  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease NOS (J44.9)
  • simple and mucopurulent chronic bronchitis (J41.-)

Use Additional Code

  • code to identify:
  • exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z77.22)
  • exposure to tobacco smoke in the perinatal period (P96.81)
  • history of tobacco dependence (Z87.891)
  • occupational exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Z57.31)
  • tobacco dependence (F17.-)
  • tobacco use (Z72.0)

Commonly Confused Codes

J41.0 — Simple chronic bronchitis: preferred when mucoid sputum is specifiedJ41.1 — Mucopurulent chronic bronchitis: preferred when purulent sputum is specifiedJ40 — Bronchitis, not specified as acute or chronic: does NOT map to an HCC; must specify chronicityJ44.9 — COPD, unspecified: use when COPD with airflow obstruction is documentedJ20.9 — Acute bronchitis, unspecified: completely different condition, acute not chronic

Code Hierarchy

└J42Unspecified chronic bronchitis
└J42Unspecified chronic bronchitis

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