Guidelines › Acute and chronic conditions

Acute and chronic conditions

Official text from the FY2027 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. The wording is quoted exactly.

Guidelines I.B.8

“If the same condition is described as both acute (subacute) and chronic, and separate subentries exist in the Alphabetic Index at the same indentation level, code both and sequence the acute (subacute) code first.”

Where this applies

This is a general rule. It applies to code assignment everywhere, not to one code or group of codes.

Source: FY 2027 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, effective October 1, 2026. Full Guidelines (PDF, CMS)