2024 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Z59.41
Food insecurity
- ICD-10-CM Code:
- Z59.41
- ICD-10 Code for:
- Food insecurity
- Is Billable?
- Yes - Valid for Submission
- Code Navigator:
Z59.41 is a billable diagnosis code used to specify a medical diagnosis of food insecurity. The code is valid during the current fiscal year for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions from October 01, 2023 through September 30, 2024. The code is exempt from present on admission (POA) reporting for inpatient admissions to general acute care hospitals.
This code describes a circumstance which influences the patient's health status but not a current illness or injury. The code is unacceptable as a principal diagnosis.
Approximate Synonyms
The following clinical terms are approximate synonyms or lay terms that might be used to identify the correct diagnosis code:
- Food insecurity
- Mild food insecurity on United States household food security survey module
- Moderate food insecurity on United States household food security survey module
- Severe food insecurity on United States household food security survey module
- Transport problem
- Transportation insecurity limiting access to food
Clinical Classification
Clinical Category is Socioeconomic/psychosocial factors
- CCSR Category Code: FAC019
- Inpatient Default CCSR: X - Not applicable.
- Outpatient Default CCSR: X - Not applicable.
Clinical Information
Food Insecurity
limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in safe and socially acceptable ways.Food Insecurity
an individual's concern about consistent access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food for an active, healthy life.USDA Six-Item Standard Measure|Food Insecurity
a six-item standard measure from the u.s. department of agriculture economic research service designed to measure an individual's or family's availability, accessibility, and affordability of nutritionally adequate food.
Index to Diseases and Injuries References
The following annotation back-references for this diagnosis code are found in the injuries and diseases index. The Index to Diseases and Injuries is an alphabetical listing of medical terms, with each term mapped to one or more ICD-10-CM code(s).
- - Food
- - insecurity - Z59.41
- - Insecurity
- - food - Z59.41
Code Edits
The Medicare Code Editor (MCE) detects and reports errors in the coding of claims data. The following ICD-10-CM Code Edits are applicable to this code:
- Unacceptable principal diagnosis - There are selected codes that describe a circumstance which influences an individual's health status but not a current illness or injury, or codes that are not specific manifestations but may be due to an underlying cause. These codes are considered unacceptable as a principal diagnosis.
Present on Admission (POA)
Z59.41 is exempt from POA reporting - The Present on Admission (POA) indicator is used for diagnosis codes included in claims involving inpatient admissions to general acute care hospitals. POA indicators must be reported to CMS on each claim to facilitate the grouping of diagnoses codes into the proper Diagnostic Related Groups (DRG). CMS publishes a listing of specific diagnosis codes that are exempt from the POA reporting requirement. Review other POA exempt codes here.
CMS POA Indicator Options and Definitions
| POA Indicator | Reason for Code | CMS will pay the CC/MCC DRG? |
|---|---|---|
| Y | Diagnosis was present at time of inpatient admission. | YES |
| N | Diagnosis was not present at time of inpatient admission. | NO |
| U | Documentation insufficient to determine if the condition was present at the time of inpatient admission. | NO |
| W | Clinically undetermined - unable to clinically determine whether the condition was present at the time of inpatient admission. | YES |
| 1 | Unreported/Not used - Exempt from POA reporting. | NO |
Replacement Code
Z5941 replaces the following previously assigned ICD-10-CM code(s):
- Z59.4 - Lack of adequate food
- Z59.4 - Lack of adequate food and safe drinking water
Code History
- FY 2024 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2023 through 9/30/2024
- FY 2023 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2022 through 9/30/2023
- FY 2022 - Code Added, effective from 10/1/2021 through 9/30/2022