POA Exempt: Congenital malformations of eye, ear, face and neck (Q10-Q18) ICD-10-CM
The 62 ICD-10-CM codes in this range are exempt from Present on Admission reporting for fiscal year 2026. Hospitals assign no POA indicator for them on inpatient claims: the codes describe circumstances, such as pre-existing conditions or the cause of an injury, where asking whether the condition was present at admission adds no information.
Exempt Codes in This Range 62 codes · 9 categories
Q10 Congenital malformations of eyelid, lacrimal apparatus and orbit8 codes
- Q10.0 Congenital ptosis
- Q10.1 Congenital ectropion
- Q10.2 Congenital entropion
- Q10.3 Other congenital malformations of eyelid
- Q10.4 Absence and agenesis of lacrimal apparatus
- Q10.5 Congenital stenosis and stricture of lacrimal duct
- Q10.6 Other congenital malformations of lacrimal apparatus
- Q10.7 Congenital malformation of orbit
Q11 Anophthalmos, microphthalmos and macrophthalmos4 codes
Q12 Congenital lens malformations7 codes
Q13 Congenital malformations of anterior segment of eye9 codes
- Q13.0 Coloboma of iris
- Q13.1 Absence of iris
- Q13.2 Other congenital malformations of iris
- Q13.3 Congenital corneal opacity
- Q13.4 Other congenital corneal malformations
- Q13.5 Blue sclera
- Q13.81 Rieger anomaly
- Q13.89 Other congenital malformations of anterior segment of eye
- Q13.9 Congenital malformation of anterior segment of eye, unspecified
Q14 Congenital malformations of posterior segment of eye6 codes
- Q14.0 Congenital malformation of vitreous humor
- Q14.1 Congenital malformation of retina
- Q14.2 Congenital malformation of optic disc
- Q14.3 Congenital malformation of choroid
- Q14.8 Other congenital malformations of posterior segment of eye
- Q14.9 Congenital malformation of posterior segment of eye, unspecified
Q15 Other congenital malformations of eye3 codes
Q16 Congenital malformations of ear causing impairment of hearing7 codes
- Q16.0 Congenital absence of (ear) auricle
- Q16.1 Congenital absence, atresia and stricture of auditory canal (external)
- Q16.2 Absence of eustachian tube
- Q16.3 Congenital malformation of ear ossicles
- Q16.4 Other congenital malformations of middle ear
- Q16.5 Congenital malformation of inner ear
- Q16.9 Congenital malformation of ear causing impairment of hearing, unspecified
Q17 Other congenital malformations of ear8 codes
Q18 Other congenital malformations of face and neck10 codes
- Q18.0 Sinus, fistula and cyst of branchial cleft
- Q18.1 Preauricular sinus and cyst
- Q18.2 Other branchial cleft malformations
- Q18.3 Webbing of neck
- Q18.4 Macrostomia
- Q18.5 Microstomia
- Q18.6 Macrocheilia
- Q18.7 Microcheilia
- Q18.8 Other specified congenital malformations of face and neck
- Q18.9 Congenital malformation of face and neck, unspecified
Questions About This Category
Why are these codes POA exempt?
The codes for congenital malformations of eye, ear, face and neck describe circumstances where the Present on Admission question has no meaning, so CMS exempts them from the indicator. The exemption is published in the official FY 2026 CMS exempt file.
How many codes in this range are exempt?
The FY 2026 exempt list contains 62 codes in this range, effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026.
Are these codes billable?
The exemption only removes the POA indicator requirement, it does not change how a code is used on claims. Billable status is shown per code: blue codes are billable, and any codes shown in the amber tone are category headers that need more characters.
More POA Exempt Categories
Source: CMS FY 2026 ICD-10-CM POA exempt file, effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. See also the Medicare Code Edits and the MS-DRG list.
