Z55.6UpcomingBillable / specificExempt from present-on-admission reporting

Problems related to health literacy

Z55 · Inherited instructions

Excludes 1

disorders of psychological development (F80-F89)

Claims & coverage

Coverage depends on the payer, service and applicable policy. A billable code does not guarantee payment.

When ICD-10-CM is required

For US diagnosis claims covered by HIPAA, ICD-10-CM is required from October 1, 2015.

Use the service date for outpatient/professional claims and the discharge date for hospital inpatient claims. Earlier encounters use ICD-9-CM; each individual code must also be valid for the applicable date.

Official coding guidelines → · CMS ↗

Check Medicare coverage ↗

First observed · 2023-04-01

Code history

Latest recorded change · FY2023 · 04-01

ChangedUnchanged

FY2023 · 04-01

Effective from 2023-04-01

Added

Problems related to health literacy

Billable diagnosis code

CDC/NCHS · FY2023 · 04-01

All editions (8)

All editions	Effective from	Code history
FY2023 · 04-01	2023-04-01	Added
FY2024	2023-10-01	No tabular change
FY2024 · 04-01	2024-04-01	No tabular change
FY2025	2024-10-01	No tabular change
FY2025 · 04-01	2025-04-01	No tabular change
FY2026	2025-10-01	No tabular change
FY2026 · April	2026-04-01	No tabular change
FY2027	2026-10-01	No tabular change

Code-level instructions

Inclusion terms

Difficulty understanding health related information
Difficulty understanding medication instructions
Problem completing medical forms

Inherited instructions

Chapters 21 · Factors influencing health status and contact with health services (Z00-Z99)

Note

Z codes represent reasons for encounters. A corresponding procedure code must accompany a Z code if a procedure is performed. Categories Z00-Z99 are provided for occasions when circumstances other than a disease, injury or external cause classifiable to categories A00-Y89 are recorded as 'diagnoses' or 'problems'. This can arise in two main ways:
(a) When a person who may or may not be sick encounters the health services for some specific purpose, such as to receive limited care or service for a current condition, to donate an organ or tissue, to receive prophylactic vaccination (immunization), or to discuss a problem which is in itself not a disease or injury.
(b) When some circumstance or problem is present which influences the person's health status but is not in itself a current illness or injury.

Z55 · Problems related to education and literacy

Excludes 1

disorders of psychological development (F80-F89)

Official index references (5)

Difficult, difficulty(in) (2)

Difficult, difficulty(in) › understanding › health related informationDisease index
Difficult, difficulty(in) › understanding › medication instructionsDisease index

Illiteracy (1)

Illiteracy › healthDisease index

Problem(with) (related to) (2)

Problem(with) (related to) › completing medical formsDisease index
Problem(with) (related to) › health literacyDisease index

Official conversion history

Historical assignments from the CDC conversion table support data retrieval. They do not authorize substituting a previous code for the current code.

Release dates 2023-04-01

Previous assignment: Z55.8

Related codes

Other entries in the same category; these are not automatic substitutes.

Code	Description	Category · further specificity required
Z55.0	Illiteracy and low-level literacy	Billable / specific
Z55.1	Schooling unavailable and unattainable	Billable / specific
Z55.2	Failed school examinations	Billable / specific
Z55.3	Underachievement in school	Billable / specific
Z55.4	Educational maladjustment and discord with teachers and classmates	Billable / specific
Z55.5	Less than a high school diploma	Billable / specific
Z55.8	Other problems related to education and literacy	Billable / specific
Z55.9	Problems related to education and literacy, unspecified	Billable / specific

Official titles and instructions are preserved in their source language. Official sources ↗