The
Rocky Road to ICD-10 Medical Code Implementation
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The US healthcare industry has been
grappling for too many years now with the implementation of
ICD-10 medical codes. The new ICD-10 code set promises to
improve the classification of the massive and growing reservoir
of health information and to bring the United States up to
the international standard for healthcare documentation.
There is no question that the US
is lagging significantly in this vital health information
area. Most other developed countries have long since adopted
and implemented the new standards. The need for an upgrade
to the current system was identified formally in the early
1990's when the National Committee on Vital and Health Statisics
affirmed that the current code structure was "broken".
The numerous delays in implementation since that time can
be traced to a handful of short-sighted economic and political
considerations. Regardless of the cause, the US healthcare
system can ill afford additional delays. The quality and integrity
of health data in the US has been declining for several decades
now.
The deterioration of health data
can be blamed in large measure on the fact that the US has
simply outgrown the ICD-9 medical coding system. While ICD-9
served the industry adequately for a number of years, the
growth in medical procedures, treatments, diagnoses and technology
have surpassed its limited adaptive capability. The universe
of available ICD-9 codes is rapidly dwindling and certain
code sets are becoming oversubscribed. This is resulting in
tremendous inefficiency and is calling into question the integrity
and completeness of the data delivered through the system.
As the risk of compromised patient care increases, the need
for change is becoming more obvious.
Advantages of the ICD-10 Medical Code Classification System
Implementation of the ICD-10 medical
code set will confer a number of significant advantages on
the industry. These include:
- Greater specificity and accuracy in healthcare documentation
- Reduction in manual intervention arising from the limited
descriptive capability of the existing code set
- Increased level of detail in the final health record
- Improvement in care decisions with elevated data quality
- Reduction in errors and quality assurance activities
- Reduction in reimbursement holdups due to inadequate information
or clarity
- Increased productivity of coding practitioners as automation
becomes more applicable throughout the entire process
- Increased compatibility with other global health information
systems
- Improved patient outcomes
Conclusion
While there are certainly some compelling
economic costs associated with full adoption and implementation
of the ICD-10 code set, the costs of non-adoption are growing
every day and threaten to dwarf real implementation costs.
Additionally, the negative impact on patient care will increase
exponentially as the existing data model becomes less stable.
The evidence for successful implementation is readily available.
Virtually every other major developed country in the world
has successfully adopted ICD-10. The time for discussion and
analysis is past. The time for bold action and implementation
is here.
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