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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
The Joys of ICD-10 Documentation
The new coding system requires equal parts precision and patience.
J
ust when I thought I
had had enough, ICD-
10 comes rolling in.
Oy vey! What a pain in the
K62.89! (That's the ICD-10
code for a disorder charac-
terized by inflammation of
the rectum.)
ICD-10 has 141,000 codes
— more than 8 times the
17,000 codes in ICD-9. This
coding quagmire affords
entries for diseases, signs
and symptoms, complaints,
social circumstances, abnor-
mal findings and external
causes of injury (whew!).
Thankfully, they omitted the
patient's Zodiac sign and
wine preferences.
LEO C FAR
The implementation of ICD-10 on Oct. 1 sent seismic waves through
surgical billers nationwide. Xanax consumption has never been higher
amongst staff. The basic format for coding according to the new ICD-
10 guidelines requires the following: disease category, etiology, body
part and severity. Since the launch of ICD-10, office note dictations
C U T T I N G R E M A R K S
John D. Kelly IV, MD
Surgeons have to document
why the patient was brought
to the OR. "I was behind on
my car payments" won't fly.