Americans spend $2.8 trillion each year on medical care. These codes determine how that fortune \u2014 nearly one-fifth of the nation\u2019s economy \u2014 gets divvied up among thousands of hospitals and the doctors who work there. It is how the federal government, and most private health insurers, assess a value for each patient visit.<\/p>\n
The prospect of quadrupling the number of medical codes used in those calculations has touched off a heated debate over whether more specificity is an onerous layer of bureaucratic red tape \u2014<\/span> or a valuable chance to better understand and treat complex medical conditions.<\/p>\nThe codes in ICD-10 can seem absurd in their granularity, replete with designations for seemingly impossible situations.<\/p>\n
There are different numbers for getting struck or bitten by a turkey (W61.42 or W61.43). There are codes for injuries caused by squirrels (W53.21) and getting hit by a motor vehicle while riding an animal (V80.919), spending too much time in a deep-freeze refrigerator (W93.2) and a large toe that has gone unexpectedly missing (Z89.419).<\/p>\n
At the AAPC conference in San Francisco, the organization sold shot glasses inscribed with \u201cF10.950\u201d \u2014 the code for an unspecified alcohol-induced psychotic disorder. \u201cGive ICD-10 a shot!\u201d it says in blue script.<\/p>\n
Hospitals and insurers have fought the new codes, calling them a massive regulatory burden that will cost them billions of dollars to implement without improving patient care. For years, their protests succeeded: The federal government has twice delayed implementing the new code set, which was initially set for 2008.<\/p>\n
ICD-10 proponents contend that adding specificity to medical diagnoses will provide a huge boon to the country. It will be easier for public health researchers, for example, to see warning signs of a possible flu pandemic \u2014 and easier for insurers to root out fraudulent claims.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many times are people going to be bitten by an orca? Probably not very many,\u201d said Lynne Thomas Gordon, chief executive of the American Health Information Management Association. \u201cBut what if you\u2019re a researcher trying to find that? You can just press a button and find that information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gordon notes that the United States relies on the last edition, written in the 1970s. \u201cWe are so far behind we can\u2019t compare data with other countries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a reference book used in the medical professions and the insurance industry called the International Classification of Diseases.\u00a0 It gives a code for the various diagnoses.\u00a0 Insurance companies and the government Medicare administrators can set a price for each affliction so as to determine reimbursement rates. The previous 9th edition had some 14,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[3020,2446,3021],"class_list":["post-18021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medicine","tag-diseases","tag-health-insurance","tag-medical-profession"],"yoast_head":"\n
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