R65.2 Severe sepsis

The ICD-10-CM code for Severe sepsis is R65.2 (FY2026). It is a non-billable category code — select a more specific code below for claims.

Classification

Chapter

18: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99)

Section

R50-R69: General symptoms and signs (R50-R69)

Category R65

7 codes (4 billable)

FY2026 Status

Stable since FY2024

Inclusion Terms

• Infection with associated acute organ dysfunction
• Sepsis with acute organ dysfunction
• Sepsis with multiple organ dysfunction
• Systemic inflammatory response syndrome due to infectious process with acute organ dysfunction

Official Coding Guidelines

Sepsis: underlying systemic infection code; default A41.9; R65.2 rule

For a diagnosis of sepsis, assign the appropriate code for the underlying systemic infection. If the type of infection or causal organism is not further specified, assign code A41.9, Sepsis, unspecified organism. A code from subcategory R65.2, Severe sepsis, should not be assigned unless severe sepsis or an associated acute organ dysfunction is documented.

Acute organ dysfunction not clearly due to sepsis: no R65.2; query if unclear

If a patient has sepsis and an acute organ dysfunction, but the medical record documentation indicates that the acute organ dysfunction is related to a medical condition other than the sepsis, do not assign a code from subcategory R65.2, Severe sepsis. An acute organ dysfunction must be associated with the sepsis in order to assign the severe sepsis code. If the documentation is not clear as to whether an acute organ dysfunction is related to the sepsis or another medical condition, query the provider.

Source: CMS — ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, FY2026

References

• CMS — ICD-10-CM Official Code Set and Guidelines, FY2026
• CDC/NCHS — ICD-10-CM Files and Browser Tool