ICD 10
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems has come out with its 10th revision and all hospitals will be required to stop using ICD 9 and start using ICD 10 by October 1, 2013 or claims will not be paid. Not all healthcare employees know or understand what ICD 10 is because it is only used by certain staff. For those staff who will be affected, it will be a major change that should not be rushed and plenty of testing and training should happen before October or this will have negative connotations on cash flow and payments to providers and hospitals.
For each patient that is seen by a provider, their visit must be assigned a code which will tell payors (like insurance companies or Medicare or Medicaid) what the patient was seen for and will tell them how much to reimburse the provider for those services. It codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases. ICD 9 diagnosis coding was 3 to 5 digits, while ICD 10 is 3 to 7 digits for diagnosis coding. ICD 9 inpatient hospital coding was 3 or 4 numeric digits while ICD 10 is 7 alphanumeric digits. This a major change which will affect coders, providers and other clinical staff, IT staff, finance staff, payers, clearinghouses, and billing services. Each of these staff members needs specific training and awareness of how ICD 10 will affect their jobs.
Other countries have implemented ICD 10 and have lots of experience with this type of coding. Some countries have their own modified version of ICD 10 while most countries are using it without modification.
To find known implementation issues with ICD 10, go to this website:
http://www.wedionline.org/icd-10/default.aspx
HIMSS has an ICD 10 Playbook to help with the transition.
http://www.himss.org/library/icd-10/playbook?navItemNumber=13480