Claim Diagnosis Code III (FFS)

SAS Name
ICD_DGNS_CD3

The diagnosis code identifying the beneficiary's diagnosis.

Source: NCH

Comments

For ICD-9 diagnosis codes, this is a 3–5 digit numeric or alpha/numeric value; it can include leading zeros. On October 1, 2015, the conversion from the 9th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9-CM) to version 10 (ICD-10-CM) occurred.

Starting in 2011, with version J of the NCH claim layout, institutional claims can have up to 25 diagnosis codes (previously only 11 were accommodated), and the non-institutional claims can have up to 12 diagnosis codes (previously only up to 8).

The lower the number, the more important the diagnosis in the patient treatment/billing (i.e., ICD_DGNS_CD1 is considered the primary diagnosis).