As a medical coder, you will assign specific numeric codes to medical services, procedures and diagnoses. Allied’s Medical Coding teaches you how to apply the right code in the right place and streamline the medical billing process. From knowledge of ICD-9-CM and CPT codes to reimbursement issues, you will be ready to play an important part in a medical office.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
With the ICD-10-CM implementation date on the horizon, there may be questions about this new coding system. Why is it needed? What are the changes? How will it affect my
medical coding career? While you’re very familiar with ICD-9-CM, you may wonder what the ICD-10-CM system is all about. Here’s some helpful information:
What is ICD-9-CM? ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition, Clinical Modifications) is a set of codes used by physicians, hospitals, and health care professionals to indicate the diagnosis for all patient visits. ICD-9-CM contains approximately 13,000 codes; these codes are mandatory for all health insurance claims in the U.S.
What is ICD-10-CM? ICD-10-CM is the long awaited diagnosis code revision to ICD-9-CM. This coding system contains approximately 68,000 codes. ICD-10 has been in use throughout the world for both morbidity and mortality statistics since 1994. It has been required for reporting mortality statistics in the United States since 1999.
Why is the new ICD-10-CM coding system needed?
• Limited Space – It is running out of numbers to assign for codes and in some cases, new code proposals have not been adopted because of limited space
• Not Specific Enough – Its diagnosis codes do not describe the severity or complexity of the various disease conditions. This has resulted in increasing requests for additional documentation in order to support claims.
• No Exchange of Information – It hinders the exchange of meaningful health care data with health care organizations and professionals around the world.
What are the benefits of adopting ICD-10-CM?
• Expanded injury codes
• Combination of diagnosis/symptom codes
• Addition of sixth and seventh characters
• Laterality (left and right specific where applicable)
• V and E codes incorporated into the main classification
• Addition of ambulatory and managed care encounter information
• Expanded postoperative complication information
How does this affect my medical coding career? Because October 1, 2013 is the drop-dead date for compliance, you will need to be familiar with the new system in advance. This means that you will need to enroll in an ICD-10-CM medical coding course to learn about the new medical coding system – including a comprehensive overview of the changes and impacts on your medical coding career. While there’s still a lot of time to prepare, you need to look ahead toward the upcoming changes. Labels: icd-10, ICD-9, medical coding career, Medical Coding Coder, medical coding system
Read Full Article>> Why the Need for the ICD-10-CM Medical Coding System?
Friday, February 13, 2009
New ICD-10 Compliance Date – More Time to Get Ready!The Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) played a large part in getting the ICD-10 switchover postponed. Full compliance is now due in 2013 instead of 2011, which is great news for medical coders and the U.S. health care system.
This extra time will allow the entire health care industry to effectively upgrade practice and billing procedures -- and get in compliance before the deadline. As expected, the revised timeline is welcomed by doctors, medical coders and other professionals. It will give adequate time for the needed software upgrades and facilitate a smooth transition.
The Need for an Expanded Medical Coding System
The bottom line is that the change is needed. The current ICD-9 medical coding system is nearly 30 years old, including approximately 17,000 procedure and diagnosis codes. The medical coding process is limited by the system -- the scope and capability is not large enough to encompass all of the procedures and diagnosis in use today. The new ICD-10 system has approximately 155,000 codes, with 68,000 diagnosis codes alone. It will enable medical coders to be more accurate -- more data and detail will improve the medica billing and coding process as a whole.
Attn Medical Coders: Additional Medical Coding Training Not Needed Yet
The AAPC's stand is that it would be too soon to get additional medical coding training. With over four years until the compliance deadline, it would be difficult for medical coders to retain all of the new knowledge. As the due date nears, they should enroll in a medical coding program to learn the new medical codes and gain new coding knowledge. Medical coding schools will need to update their courses to be inline with the new changes, but there is no need to make any changes yet -- there's over four years still. Labels: Academy of Professional Coders, Certified Medical Coder, icd-10, Medical Coder, medical coding system
Read Full Article>> ICD-10 Update: What it Means for Your Medical Coding Career
