J95.851

Ventilator associated pneumonia

FY2027Chapter 10: Diseases of the respiratory system/J95 Intraoperative and postprocedural complications and disorders of respiratory system, not elsewhere classified

BillableComplete code, valid to report

Use additional code
Excludes1
Excludes2

Care settingsHome Health Primary · MMTA - Respiratory Hospital CC

J95.851 (also written J95851) is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for ventilator associated pneumonia. It is part of the FY2027 code set, effective October 1, 2026. It is one of the 32 codes in category J95 (Intraoperative and postprocedural complications and disorders of respiratory system, not elsewhere classified). The Alphabetic Index lists it under 3 entries. Its coding notes include a Use additional code instruction, 1 Excludes1 entry and 13 Excludes2 entries.

Guidelines tips

From the FY2027 Official Guidelines. ICD10Ref adds no rules of its own.

Intraoperative and postprocedural complications are coded from the body system chapters unless the complication is specifically indexed to a T code.

Guidelines I.C.19.g.5Postprocedural complications in the body system chaptersRead the official text

J95.851 is assigned only when the provider documents ventilator associated pneumonia. An organism code is added, and a J12-J18 code is not.

Guidelines I.C.10.d.1Ventilator associated pneumoniaRead the official text

Use additional code

Add the listed code as a secondary code, if known.

This code

code to identify the organism, if known (B95.-, B96.-, B97.-)

Also from chapter/block level (7 notes)

Inherited from Chapter 10 Diseases of the respiratory system

code, where applicable, 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)

Excludes1

Not coded here. The listed conditions generally should not be reported together.

This code

ventilator lung in newborn (P27.8)

Excludes2

Not included here. Both codes may be reported if the patient has both conditions.

Inherited from J95 Intraoperative and postprocedural complications and disorders of respiratory system, not elsewhere classified

aspiration pneumonia (J69.-)
emphysema (subcutaneous) resulting from a procedure (T81.82)
hypostatic pneumonia (J18.2)
pulmonary manifestations due to radiation (J70.0-J70.1)

Also from chapter/block level (9 notes)

Inherited from Chapter 10 Diseases of the respiratory system

certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P04-P96)
certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O9A)
congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)
endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E88)
injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T88)
neoplasms (C00-D49)
smoke inhalation (T59.81-)
symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R94)

Care settings

How CMS programs treat this code. These are CMS claim edits and list entries, not coverage or eligibility rules.

Home Health Primary

Accepted as the primary (principal) diagnosis on a home health claim. The Home Health Grouper assigns it to the MMTA - Respiratory clinical group.

Source: CMS Home Health Grouper Software v07.2.26, effective October 1, 2026

Hospital CC

Counts as a complication or comorbidity (CC) when reported as a secondary diagnosis on an inpatient claim. It does not count when the principal diagnosis is one of the 55 codes in its exclusion list. Some MS-DRGs also ignore a CC or MCC that defines the DRG.

Source: CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v44, effective October 1, 2026, Appendix C

Inclusion terms

Conditions classified to this code.

This code

Ventilator associated pneumonitis

Notes

Also from chapter/block level (1 note)

Inherited from Chapter 10 Diseases of the respiratory system

When a respiratory condition is described as occurring in more than one site and is not specifically indexed, it should be classified to the lower anatomic site (e.g. tracheobronchitis to bronchitis in J40).

Alphabetic Index terms

Terms the official Alphabetic Index lists for this code. 3 entries