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Prepare for ICD-10 with anatomy/physiology education

Briefings on Coding Compliance Strategies, November 1, 2009

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During a visit to British Columbia, Canada, in October 2008, Bryant interviewed a group of hospital coders who have been using the ICD-10 system for several years.
Although the coders all agreed that ICD-10 has some challenging aspects to learn as far as understanding procedures and anatomy/physiology, they also agreed that they would “never go back to ICD-9,” Bryant says.

ICD-10’s detailed coding system will help staff members more easily gather data on their facility as well as its practices and patient population. Facilities use coded ­data for several purposes, such as outcome statistics, which will also be greatly enhanced by the ICD-10 coding system, says Gloryanne Bryant, RHIA, CCS, CCDS, regional managing director of HIM at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA..

For example, if a coding manager asked a coder to look at the surgical outcomes for vessel repairs in legs, under the ICD-9 system, that coder would need to sift through the documentation for each record, determining which procedures the physician performed in the leg. In the ICD-10 system, the coder will easily be able to retrieve these data, since the code specifies where the physician made the repair.

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Briefings on Coding Compliance Strategies.

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