The Transition to ICD-10: What it Means to You
On October 1, 2014, healthcare practices will be required to use a revised version of the International Classification of Diseases code: ICD-10. The reason for the change is that the level of detail provided by ICD-9 has been deemed inadequate for today’s environment. There are many more types of diagnoses and more known diseases than when ICD-9 was first instituted in 1979 (Examples: SARS, West Nile Virus and even HIV AIDS), in addition to the fact that today’s technology can process exponentially more data than it could process even a few years ago. While certain to cause short-term pain, the new standards will significantly increase the accuracy in recording and reporting on diseases and morbidity. Read more …
