ICD-9 to ICD-10 Transition and Conversion

As we mentioned, ICD-10-CM code is similar to ICD-9-CM in what it does, but distinct in it’s format and layout. Where ICD-9-CM is five digits and almost entirely numeric, ICD-10-CM is seven characters and entirely alphanumeric.

This is a problem for a number of reasons. For one, the US is no longer “speaking the same language” as the other countries in the world. One of the benefits of the ICD code system is its universality. While each country that adopts ICD codes tends to tweak it in certain ways (like the United States’ Clinical Modification), the roots of the codes are still the same. Not so in the US. Since we’re still using a five-character, numeric code set, and the rest of the world is using a seven-character, alphanumeric system, it’s hard to track

The more pressing need comes from the format of ICD-9-CM itself. To put it simply, ICD-9-CM is out of room. As the field of medicine has grown by leaps and bounds in the years since ICD-9- to icd 10 converter was implemented in free tool, the code set has struggled to keep up. There are now too many new diseases, diagnoses, procedures for the code set to keep up.

If we remember our mission of always “coding to the highest level of specificity,” you can see that this is a real problem. As medical practice has developed and diversified, the old ICD-9-CM code set is increasingly incapable of providing the exact right codes. While ICD-9-CM has developed a workaround in the form of “Not Elsewhere Classified” codes and other unlisted codes, it’s not ideal to work with intentionally nonspecific codes.

Enter ICD-10-CM. The code set is significantly larger than ICD-9-CM (there are 13,000 ICD-9 codes and 68,000 ICD-10 codes), and its increased number of subcategories and subclassifications (the digits after the decimal point), allow for a far greater level of specificity in coding. ICD-10-CM is also more flexible, and was designed in such a way that eases the entrance of codes for new, recently discovered, or expanded diagnoses.

Resource: www.medicalbillingandcoding.org