• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

HHS proposes ICD-10 code

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, August 19, 2008

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Friday announced its proposal to implement an expanded, more complex coding system called ICD-10 to improve disease tracking and encourage nationwide electronic documentation. The ICD-10 code would replace the long-standing ICD-9-CM code used for reporting diagnosis and inpatient procedures. In a separate proposal, ICD-10 would require the adoption of an updated X12 standard, Version 5010 for healthcare transactions, and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs standard, Version D.0 for electronic claims.

Now considered “outdated,” according to an HHS press release, the existing 30-year old ICD-9 has a limited 17,000 code sets—not enough to account for the growing number of diagnoses and inpatient procedures. By comparison, ICD-10 would include a possible 155,000 code sets.

What could this mean for inpatient medicine and hospitalists? With a target date of Oct. 1, 2011, the proposed ICD-10 would require a full transition during a three-year timeline, and Version 5010 and Version D.0 would be required by April 1, 2010. In addition, there are anticipated startup costs to implementing the coding change for administrations in both public and private healthcare facilities

“The greatly expanded ICD-10 code sets will enable HHS to fully support quality reporting, pay-for-performance, bio-surveillance, and other critical activities,” said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in a press release on Friday. “Conversion to ICD-10 is essential to development of a nationwide electronic health information environment, and the updated X12 transaction standards are a critical step in the implementation of these new codes.”

• Comment
• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive

Comments