In simple words: This code indicates that E. coli bacteria is the cause of a diagnosed illness. It's used alongside another code that specifies the illness itself.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is identified as the causative agent of a disease classified elsewhere.This code is used as a supplementary code to provide further detail about the etiology of the primary condition.

Example 1: A patient presents with urinary tract infection confirmed to be caused by E. coli. The primary diagnosis code for the UTI is used, along with B96.2 to specify the causative agent., A patient has sepsis due to E. coli.The code for sepsis is the primary diagnosis, with B96.2 added to indicate E. coli as the cause., A patient is diagnosed with gastroenteritis due to E. coli. The code for gastroenteritis is used first, followed by B96.2.

Documentation should clearly identify E. coli as the causative organism of the diagnosed condition, typically through laboratory testing.

** Use additional code to identify resistance to antimicrobial drugs (Z16.-). This code excludes certain localized infections (see body system-related chapters), carrier or suspected carrier of infectious disease (Z22.-), infectious and parasitic diseases complicating pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium (O98.-), and infectious and parasitic diseases specific to the perinatal period (P35-P39).