ICD stands for International Classification of Diseases which is used to record and report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures in the US health clinics. ICD which was and is still used in night revision since 1978 will now be replaced on October 01, 2015 by ICD 10 medical coding. The adoption of this transition has taken the form under US Department of Health and Human Service (HHS).
About ICD-10 Medical Coding
The main reason behind ICD-10 transition is because ICD-9 produces limited data about medical condition. In addition to this, the 10th version helps in fixing the problem through advanced medical coding of diseases and generates more helpful data to identify epidemics.
ICD-10 transition was done by the World Health Organization (WHO) way back in 1994 but it lacked procedure codes and was already in use by healthcare organizations in many countries. So, CMS developed IDC-10 coding for reporting procedures, including surgeries performed in US hospitals.
ICD-10 is being created and copyrighted by WHO. National Center for Health Statistic (NCHS), a Federal Agency is responsible for using it. ICD-10 has expanded details for radiology, radiation oncology, ambulatory and managed care, etc. along with combined diagnosis and system codes for other specialties. This modification consists of two parts:
ICD-10 CM is the updated version of ICD-9 CM Volume 1 and 2. The ICD-10 PCS is the updated version of ICD-9 CM Volume 3. The change in the transition would not affect CPT coding.
Differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10
| ICD-9 | ICD-10 |
| 3-5 long length characters | 3-7 long characters |
| 13,000 codes approx. | 68,000 codes approx. |
| Limited space to add new code | Flexible enough to add code |
| Lack in detailing the data | Provide specific data |
The Impact of ICD-10 on Physicians:
The impact of ICD-10 transition on physicians is quite substantial. It will call for suitable infrastructure and supporting documentation. In addition to this, the change in reimbursement patterns may result in increased specification. With the implementation of ICD-10 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) the reimbursement regulations and payment structure will require the physicians to build up their staff education, training, change in health plans and determination of policy coverage.
Training Staff and Implementing Health IT:
Training the clinical staff about the new coding standard may require additional hours and coding staff. The cost for this may vary depending on the training materials offered. The transition will also require physicians to modify their software in terms of insurance coverage and billing sections. The time required for this shift can be significant. According to the experts, physicians may require two to four hours of daily training for assigning the accurate diagnosis codes.
Preparation for implementing the ICD-10 has surely impacted many areas of the US clinical practice. Professionals at MedicalBillersandCoders.com take care of billing cycle for various purpose medical specialties and help practices deal with the transition by collecting maximum collectibles for the rendered service.
