ICD 10 Coding
ICD-10-CM is a system of classification of morbidity which is a modification of the ICD-10. The -CM stands for clinical modification. It is used to code and classify mortality data from health certificates. The aim of the ICD-10-CM is to serve as a proper statistical classification tool for morbidity reporting in the United States.(CDC, 2012). It was the result of an evaluation of both the ICD-9-CM and the ICD-10. It was a revised index and hybrid of both of these classification systems.(CDC, 2012)
ICD-10-CM was developed to replace ICD-9-CM. this took effect since the first of January 1999 (CDC, 2012). There is said to be a significant improvement over previous versions, i.e. the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10. These include addition of relevant information to the section on ambulatory and managed care encounters, expanded injury codes, creation of combination diagnostic codes to reduce the number of codes needed to fully describe a condition, incorporation of common 4th and 5th digit sub classifications, more specificity in code assignment(CDC, 2012). The new structure was made in such a way that further expansion is possible, unlike in the ICD-9-CM.(CDC, 2012)
The major difference between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM is that ICD-9-CM has fewer diagnosis codes (13000) than ICD-10-CM (68000). ICD-9-CM also uses 3- to 5-digit diagnostic codes whereas ICD-10-CM uses 3- to 7- digit diagnostic codes.
The deadline for implementation of the ICD-10-CM is 1st of October, 2013
A basic knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathology is definitely needed to accurately perform the task of medical coding. The reason is that the whole essence of medical coding is to turn medical symptoms and diagnoses into codes. Therefore if an individual does not have a good grasp of these subjects, the individual would not be able to perform the tasks excellently well. For example, in coding for a diagnosis of lung cancer, one needs to have a thorough knowledge of the bronchopulmonary segments of the lungs. Cancer of the lower lobe of the lung is coded differently from cancer of the middle lobe of the lung. If an individual is not able to make this distinction, it would result in wrong coding of the disease.
Reference
CDC (2012). International Classificarion of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
