CO-70Contractual ObligationPayment Adjustment
CO-70 Denial Code: Cost outlier adjustment
Additional payment (or adjustment) compensating for exceptionally high-cost cases under prospective payment — the cost sibling of the day outlier.
Why CO-70 happens
- ●Case costs exceeded the fixed-loss threshold for the DRG
How to fix a CO-70 denial
- 1
Validate against the payer's outlier formula; post accordingly
How to prevent it
Flag potential outlier cases early so documentation supports the full cost picture.
Drowning in CO-70 denials?
OakClaim works every denial within 48 hours and builds prevention rules so they stop recurring.