Current Status of ICD-10 Implementation
As noted in the January/February 2009 ACR Radiology Coding Source, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed the implementation of the International Classification of Disease-10-Clinical Modifications/Procedural Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS) until October 1, 2003 (January 16, 2009 Final Rule). ICD-10-CM/PCS will replace ICD-9-CM Volumes 1, 2 and 3 for reporting of diagnoses and inpatient hospital procedures, which is running out of space for new codes.* ICD-10 is a more comprehensive system and has expandable features that will allow the inclusion of more specific reporting of diseases and newly recognized conditions. The expanded ICD-10 code sets will enable The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fully support quality reporting, pay-for-performance, bio-surveillance and other critical activities.
The American Health Information Management Association, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and American Hospital Association are working with CMS to develop resources to educate the public, as the number of codes is expected to increase from approximately 18,000 to 143,000.
General Equivalence Mapping (GEM) crosswalks, which allow bi-directional mapping between ICD-9 and ICD-10, have been developed by CMS to assist in converting policies, edits, and trend data. The crosswalks have been tested by CMS using inpatient Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) data. CMS will continue to update and maintain the GEM crosswalks, which are publicly available on the CMS and CDC Web sites at:
www.cms.hhs.gov/ICD10
www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/dvs/icd10des.htm
www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/otheract/icd9/icd10cm.htm
The ACR Radiology Coding Source will continue to post updates and notices of educational resources to aid in the conversion to ICD-10-CM/PCS as they become available.
*Note: ICD-10 PCS is used by hospitals to report inpatient hospital procedures. It does not replace the CPT codes used by physicians and other health care professionals to report their professional services provided in the hospital and freestanding settings. These providers should continue to use the appropriate Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes to report professional services and procedures.
