Oth Escherichia coli as the cause of diseases classd elswhr

This code identifies Escherichia coli (E. coli) as the infectious agent responsible for a disease process that is primarily classified under another ICD-10-CM code. It signifies that E. coli is the underlying cause of a condition whose main symptoms and pathology are categorized elsewhere in the classification system. This is a secondary code used to provide specificity regarding the etiology of an infection.

Use this code when documentation explicitly states E. coli as the causative organism for an infection that has its own specific disease code (e.g., urinary tract infection, sepsis, pneumonia). This code is appropriate when the primary diagnosis describes the manifestation of the E. coli infection, and the E. coli itself is not the primary diagnosis. Supporting documentation includes microbiology reports confirming E. coli isolation and physician notes linking E. coli to the patient's condition.

• Always sequence this code after the code for the specific disease caused by the E. coli.
• Do not use this code if the E. coli infection is already inherent in the primary diagnosis code (e.g., certain types of gastroenteritis where E. coli is the assumed cause).
• Ensure documentation clearly specifies "E. coli" and not just "gram-negative rod" or "bacterial infection" to support this specific code.