The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or disease. Under this system, every health condition/situation can be assigned to a unique category and given a code. The International Classification of Diseases is published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and used worldwide for morbidity and mortality statistics, reimbursement systems and automated decision support in medicine. This system is designed to promote international comparability in the collection, processing, classification, and presentation of these statistics. The ICD is a core classification of the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC). The ICD is revised periodically and is currently in its tenth edition in most of the nations except a few like United States which still is continuing to use the previous edition, i.e., ICD-9.

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or disease. Under this system, every health condition/situation can be assigned to a unique category and given a code. The International Classification of Diseases is published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and used worldwide for morbidity and mortality statistics, reimbursement systems and automated decision support in medicine. This system is designed to promote international comparability in the collection, processing, classification, and presentation of these statistics. The ICD is a core classification of the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FIC). The ICD is revised periodically and is currently in its tenth edition in most of the nations except a few like United States which still is continuing to use the previous edition, i.e., ICD-9.

The department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has mandated the replacement of the ICD-9-CM code sets medical coders and billers in the United States use now to report healthcare diagnoses and procedures with ICD-10 code sets, effective October 1, 2013. Incorporation of ICD-10 codes is the biggest change in standard healthcare coding systems in decades which will not only drastically increase but also change the structure of the codes that providers and payers have been using for the past three decades. Before that, on January 1, 2012, standards for electronic health transactions change from Version 4010/4010A1 to Version 5010. Unlike Version 4010, Version 5010 accommodates the ICD-10 code structure. This change before the ICD-10 implementation date helps in adequate testing and implementation time. Along with its transaction precursor Version 5010, ICD-10 implementation will impact every system, process and transaction that contains or uses a diagnosis code.

No wonder, this is often but correctly compared to the effort and planning that took place around Y2K.

ICD-10–CM: The diagnosis classification systems developed by the Centers for Disease control & prevention for use in US healthcare treatment settings. Diagnosis coding under this system uses three to seven alpha and numeric digits and full code titles, but the format is very much the same as ICD-9 CM

ICD-10-PCS: The procedure classification system developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid system (CMS) for use in the US for inpatient hospital settings only. The new procedure coding system uses seven alpha or numeric digits compared to three or four numeric digits that the previous edition used.

The new coding system provides significant improvements through greater detailed information and the ability to expand in order to capture additional advancement in clinical medicine. Below explains the benefits of transitioning to ICD-10.

Transition to ICD-10 will affect every segment of the US healthcare industry. Starting from providers to payers, the transition entails up gradation/replacement of existing systems to support ICD-10, training the manpower across the board, and fail-safe implementation strategies. Failure to implement ICD-10 coding system at the deadline will result in non-payment for services rendered.

1. Identify your current systems and work processes that use ICD-9 codes
2. Talk with your practice management system vendor about accommodations for both Version 5010 and ICD-10 codes
3. Discuss implementation plans with all your clearinghouses, billing services, and payers to ensure a smooth transition
4. Talk with your payers about how ICD-10 implementation might affect your contracts
5. Identify potential changes to work flow and business processes
6. Assess staff training needs. Identify the staff in your office who code, or have a need to know the new codes
7. Budget for time and costs related to ICD-10 implementation
8. Conduct test transactions using Version 5010/ICD-10 codes with your payers and clearinghouses
9. Factor in any abnormal cash flow disparity post implementation from a contingent situation

1. Incorporate a team to handle ICD-10 implementation
2. Start an intranet resource for ICD-10 implementation team to share/update information
3. Assess and identify processes/systems using ICD-9-CM
4. Allocate adequate financial and human resources for smooth transition to ICD-10
5. Provision a system to look up archived ICD-9-CM data post ICD-10 implementation
6. Assess staff training needs and provide them with adequate online training, as to minimize their absence from work while at training
7. Prepare for implement of Version 5010, the transaction precursor of ICD-10
8. Review vendor readiness and assess their game plans for smooth ICD-10 implementation
9. Conduct adequate test transactions using Version 5010/ICD-10 codes

1. Start a team of core staff with goal of successful migration of all clients to ICD-10 implementation
2. Assess client requirements and SOPs at various levels
3. Provide emphasis to hire/train adequate human IT resources
4. Identify/train human IT resources to include general equivalency mappers (GEMs) offered by CMS to discern the divergence between ICD-9 and ICD-10 and use the reimbursement mapping
5. Engage clients to provide them regular updates, upgrades, any changed deadlines until smooth transition of each of your clients to ICD-10