First few Article Sentences
Your healthcare organization is being constantly besieged with change and uncertainty: healthcare reform, patient safety, cost reductions, reimbursement changes, etc. There is one certain and mandated change, which if not completed, could bring many of your organization’s activities to a grinding halt – the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. With a deadline of October 2013, this important project should be close to the top of today’s priority list.
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code set is used for reporting healthcare diagnoses and procedures. The World Health Organization, which oversees the ICD system, updated version 9 (ICD-9) to version 10 (ICD-10) in 1990. Yes, two decades ago!! ICD-10 has been adopted by all developed countries in the world, except the United States. The U.S., which uses this code set more intensively in the administration of healthcare services than other countries, is still using ICD-9 due to the complexity and expense of the transition.