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ICD10BillableValid for clinical use

ICD-10 Code A04.0: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli infection

A04.0 is a billable ICD-10 diagnosis code used to classify Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli infection in medical records and claims. You may see this code in hospital records, discharge summaries, insurance claims, encounter documentation, referrals, or other healthcare billing and coding records. ICD-10 codes are diagnosis classification codes used in healthcare records, reporting, coding workflows, and billing support. This code sits within the broader ICD-10 area for Certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

What is this code?

ICD-10 codes are diagnosis classification codes used in healthcare records, reporting, coding workflows, and billing support. This code sits within the broader ICD-10 area for Certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

đź“‹Clinical overview

This ICD-10 code is commonly used when documentation describes a bacterial intestinal infection. The most accurate code depends on whether the chart identifies a specific E. coli subtype, Campylobacter, Yersinia enterocolitica, Clostridium difficile, another specified bacterial intestinal pathogen, or a fully unspecified bacterial intestinal infection, and for C. diff whether recurrence is documented.

When is it used?

  • May be used when a clinician documents enteropathogenic escherichia coli infection in a patient's medical record.
  • May appear in hospital records, claims, referrals, and clinical documentation.
  • This code can be used as a clinically usable diagnosis entry in standardized coding workflows.

What it does not mean

  • A code alone does not explain severity, treatment plan, or outcome.
  • A medical code should not be treated as a substitute for a doctor's diagnosis or advice.

đź©şClinical context

When commonly used
  • Primary-care, urgent-care, emergency, gastroenterology, infectious-disease, inpatient, and follow-up documentation where acute infectious diarrhea, enteritis, or enterocolitis is part of the active assessment.
  • Coding and utilization-review workflows where stool-testing results, pathogen identification, or documented C. diff recurrence status change the final intestinal-infection code.
Common management context
  • Evaluation often includes symptom review for diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, dehydration, or bloody stool; stool culture or molecular-test review; fluid-status assessment; and antimicrobial or infection-control planning when indicated.
  • Documentation usually becomes more specific when the chart identifies the causative organism, distinguishes one E. coli subtype from another, or clarifies whether C. diff infection is recurrent.
  • Specialist context already linked on this page includes Infectious Disease Specialist, General Physician.

🔍Key distinctions

Important notes
  • This ICD-10 family captures bacterial intestinal infections and is distinct from viral, parasitic, or noninfectious gastrointestinal conditions because pathogen identification is the main specificity driver.
  • Subtype detail matters across this branch, especially for diarrheagenic E. coli patterns and for recurrent-versus-not-specified-as-recurrent C. diff infection.
  • Enteropathogenic E. coli infection is coded separately from enterotoxigenic, enteroinvasive, enterohemorrhagic, other intestinal E. coli, Campylobacter, Yersinia, and C. diff branches because the documented diarrheagenic subtype changes code specificity.
  • Documentation that describes bacterial intestinal infection is coded differently from viral gastroenteritis, parasitic intestinal infection, noninfectious colitis, or diarrhea without documented bacterial cause because organism detail drives final code selection.
Related codes to consider
A04.1Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection
Related bacterial-intestinal-infection ICD-10 code; documentation often becomes more specific when the chart identifies the organism, names a diarrheagenic E. coli subtype, or clarifies C. diff recurrence status.
A04.2Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli infection
Related bacterial-intestinal-infection ICD-10 code; documentation often becomes more specific when the chart identifies the organism, names a diarrheagenic E. coli subtype, or clarifies C. diff recurrence status.
A04.3Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection
Related bacterial-intestinal-infection ICD-10 code; documentation often becomes more specific when the chart identifies the organism, names a diarrheagenic E. coli subtype, or clarifies C. diff recurrence status.
A04.4Other intestinal Escherichia coli infections
Related bacterial-intestinal-infection ICD-10 code; documentation often becomes more specific when the chart identifies the organism, names a diarrheagenic E. coli subtype, or clarifies C. diff recurrence status.

Code hierarchy

chapter
1Certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
block
A00-A09Intestinal infectious diseases
category
A04Other bacterial intestinal infections
currentA04

Where you may see this code

You may see this code in hospital records, discharge summaries, insurance claims, encounter documentation, referrals, or other healthcare billing and coding records.

Related specialists

Infectious Disease SpecialistGeneral Physician

Coverage-related procedures and services

CPT 87505high
INFECTIOUS AGENT DETECTION BY NUCLEIC ACID (DNA OR RNA); GASTROINTESTINAL PATHOGEN (EG, CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE, E. COLI, SALMONELLA, SHIGELLA, NOROVIRUS, GIARDIA), INCLUDES MULTIPLEX REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION, WHEN PERFORMED, AND MULTIPLEX AMPLIFIED PROBE TECHNIQUE, MULTIPLE TYPES OR SUBTYPES, 3-5 TARGETS
Source: CMS coverage guidance
CPT 87507high
INFECTIOUS AGENT DETECTION BY NUCLEIC ACID (DNA OR RNA); GASTROINTESTINAL PATHOGEN (EG, CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE, E. COLI, SALMONELLA, SHIGELLA, NOROVIRUS, GIARDIA), INCLUDES MULTIPLEX REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION, WHEN PERFORMED, AND MULTIPLEX AMPLIFIED PROBE TECHNIQUE, MULTIPLE TYPES OR SUBTYPES, 12-25 TARGETS
Source: CMS coverage guidance
CPT 87506high
INFECTIOUS AGENT DETECTION BY NUCLEIC ACID (DNA OR RNA); GASTROINTESTINAL PATHOGEN (EG, CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE, E. COLI, SALMONELLA, SHIGELLA, NOROVIRUS, GIARDIA), INCLUDES MULTIPLEX REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION, WHEN PERFORMED, AND MULTIPLEX AMPLIFIED PROBE TECHNIQUE, MULTIPLE TYPES OR SUBTYPES, 6-11 TARGETS
Source: CMS coverage guidance

Coding guidelines

Compatibility

Legacy and official ICD code match exactly.
Legacy codes
A04.0

Common synonyms

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli infection

Frequently asked questions

Code details

CodeA04.0
SystemICD10
Display nameEnteropathogenic Escherichia coli infection
ChapterCertain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
BlockIntestinal infectious diseases

Flags

BillableYes
Valid clinical useYes

Source

SourceICD-10
Version2026-annual
Releaseannual
Year2026

Index terms

Matched terms
Diarrhea, diarrheal(disease) (infantile) (inflammatory)Enteritis(acute) (diarrheal) (hemorrhagic) (noninfective)

About this content

This page is prepared by HealthAssure's clinical team using official coding standards from ICD-10. AI tools assist with drafting explanations, which are then reviewed and verified by healthcare professionals for accuracy. This content is for informational purposes and does not replace professional medical advice. Meet our team.