While the changes in ICD-10 has more to offer but the challenges that exists are worth the effort. The providers and the coders too will need to comprehend the new set of codes in ICD-10, and this demands education about their practices’ coding systems. But ultimately the benefit outweighs the damage the shift will cause, in terms of loss of time, energy and breakage in workflow. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have set October 1, 2014 as the target/deadline for the implementation of the new and quite significantly better International Classification of Diseases (ICD) set of codes to replace ICD-9 because ICD-9 is not efficient enough, a better word is the coding system is ‘obsolete’. This is an effort by the US Government to make the coding system align with the worlds’.
ICD-10 use of combination codes. Combination codes are used to classify/categorize two diagnoses or a diagnosis with an associated secondary process with an associated complication. An example in ICD-9 Diagnosis Codes, ICD-9 Code: 415.0, for: Acute cor pulmonale and ICD-9 Code: 415.12, for Septic pulmonary embolism while in ICD-10 Diagnosis Codes an example would be, ICD-10 Code: I26.01 Septic pulmonary embolism with acute cor pulmonale. (American Medical Association – Fact Sheet), thus ICD-10 code with its shorter code accomplishes the task of assigning codes much efficiently. In essence, the codes are more flexible allowing the incorporation of higher level of details in the codes.
Relevance of codes. ICD-10 codes are more relevant to the emerging new medicine and the medical technologies’ which help in understanding of the new diagnoses.
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7 Alphanumeric characters Vs. only 3-4 number characters. ICD-9 is limiting to the number of variations it establish with its coding system. It can only make approximately 3,000 codes while ICD-10 can make upto 87,000 codes according to American Medical Association. It makes ICD-9 not only outdated but imprecise coding system. ICD-10 on the other hand with precision defines procedures with detail concerning body part and any device used by the user.
Last but not least, with ICD-10 you are better off because ICD-10 emerges as the victor if compared with ICD-9, because it accompanies more in-depth detail and complexity in the coding system accounting for the concepts, terminologies and services yet not included in ICD-9, or are too long or complex to put in ICD-9. ICD-10 is a big step forward, but this complexity of moving towards ICD-10 will ultimately simplify procedures in US health care system.
