The ICD-10 stands for international Classification of Diseases and other Related Health Problems, tenth revision. It is used to code diseases and signs, the related symptoms, all the abnormal findings and complaints, the social circumstances and the external causes of injury and diseases. The coding list is published and updated by World Health Organization (WHO) and is used in many other countries other than US. The ICD-10-PCS in particular means the International Classification of Disease 10 Procedure Coding System and consists of both numeric and alphabetical codes ranging from three to seven in total.
The code consists of between three to seven digit alphanumeric codes all specifying the procedure. The first digit of the code is used to indicate the area of medical practice such as monitoring, measuring, surgery and administration among other. The rest of digits indicate the body system, the root operation, the body part, the approach used and the devise used in the procedure. The seventh character is the quantifying digit.
For the purpose of reference, the first three digits are normally stored in ICD manual. A good example is a code with the first three characters as 0C0 is used to indicate a medical or surgical procedure for mouth or throat alteration. The ICD-10-PCS came as a replacement CPT code for in-patients and numbers up to 87,000 in total.
With the implementation of ICD-10 coding system, the hospitals are expected to have 87, 000 new codes for all in-patient procedure coding replacing the existing 8,660 CPT codes. The replacement however takes place for the in-patient procedures only. The new codes are not applicable for billing the radiologist components and out-patient services, procedures and studies. The implication is that identical procures are described by CPT codes for out-patients but with ICD-10 for in-patients.
Even with the transition, a number of players are not converting to ICD-10 codes. In this group are the auto insurance companies, the legal claims and workers comp which prompts hospitals to use a mixture of ICD-9, ICD-10, ICD-10-PCS and CPT codes for the management and billing system. The hospital management system must therefore have ability and knowledge required for automatic conversion of ICD-9 codes to 10 and back, Convert CPT code to ICD-10 or nine and back. This should be done with ease, efficiency and comfort for smooth operations and transition.
Given that some players like the auto insurance, legal claims and workers comps are not expected to convert to the new coding system, the hospitals are likely to use CPT, ICD-9, ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS all at the same time. This calls for capacity evaluation, ability training and general knowledge in the part of healthcare providers to keep up to the demand of converting from one coding system to the other and back in an efficient and easy manner.
As a healthcare provider, there are no other viable options other than ensuring compliance long before the October I, 2014 date set for new system enrollment. The other options are to outsource the services or retire from the industry all together which does not seem reasonable.
The last minute rush, expect confusion and delays as hospitals, clinics, surgery centers, insurance companies, the CMS, the State Medicaid and all other healthcare providers try to comply in October 1, 2014 should be avoided. There are concerns arising from the implementation of ICD-10-PCS such as the possibility of using detailed information from this code to exclude coverage by the government and private insurance.
The code consists of between three to seven digit alphanumeric codes all specifying the procedure. The first digit of the code is used to indicate the area of medical practice such as monitoring, measuring, surgery and administration among other. The rest of digits indicate the body system, the root operation, the body part, the approach used and the devise used in the procedure. The seventh character is the quantifying digit.
For the purpose of reference, the first three digits are normally stored in ICD manual. A good example is a code with the first three characters as 0C0 is used to indicate a medical or surgical procedure for mouth or throat alteration. The ICD-10-PCS came as a replacement CPT code for in-patients and numbers up to 87,000 in total.
With the implementation of ICD-10 coding system, the hospitals are expected to have 87, 000 new codes for all in-patient procedure coding replacing the existing 8,660 CPT codes. The replacement however takes place for the in-patient procedures only. The new codes are not applicable for billing the radiologist components and out-patient services, procedures and studies. The implication is that identical procures are described by CPT codes for out-patients but with ICD-10 for in-patients.
Even with the transition, a number of players are not converting to ICD-10 codes. In this group are the auto insurance companies, the legal claims and workers comp which prompts hospitals to use a mixture of ICD-9, ICD-10, ICD-10-PCS and CPT codes for the management and billing system. The hospital management system must therefore have ability and knowledge required for automatic conversion of ICD-9 codes to 10 and back, Convert CPT code to ICD-10 or nine and back. This should be done with ease, efficiency and comfort for smooth operations and transition.
Given that some players like the auto insurance, legal claims and workers comps are not expected to convert to the new coding system, the hospitals are likely to use CPT, ICD-9, ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS all at the same time. This calls for capacity evaluation, ability training and general knowledge in the part of healthcare providers to keep up to the demand of converting from one coding system to the other and back in an efficient and easy manner.
As a healthcare provider, there are no other viable options other than ensuring compliance long before the October I, 2014 date set for new system enrollment. The other options are to outsource the services or retire from the industry all together which does not seem reasonable.
The last minute rush, expect confusion and delays as hospitals, clinics, surgery centers, insurance companies, the CMS, the State Medicaid and all other healthcare providers try to comply in October 1, 2014 should be avoided. There are concerns arising from the implementation of ICD-10-PCS such as the possibility of using detailed information from this code to exclude coverage by the government and private insurance.
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