ICD-10 Codes Go Into Effect on October 1, 2015

 

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal discussed the advent of the new International Classification of Diseases, commonly known as ICD codes. The federal government developed this system of classifying diseases and injuries. The codes serve as the universal language used by doctors and hospitals to describe diseases and injuries. For insurance and governmental purposes, the ICD codes are used rather than text, such as "broken right hip." The current version of the codes is ICD-9, which was adopted in 1979. Under the ICD-9 codes, there were about 18,000 different codes. Under the ICD-10 codes, which go into effect October 1, 2015, there are about 142,000 different codes. Proponents of so many more codes cite the fact that much more detailed medical data will be generated by these codes to help in research and treatment. Critics cite the huge additional cost of learning all these codes and then using them correctly, and the fact that they represent yet another paperwork problem for doctors and hospitals already buried under paperwork. Time will tell.  

A Recent Physician-Authored Book Highlights

Some of the Growing Problems in the Healthcare System

Elaina George, M.D., a Board Certified Otolaryngologist, has written a book which highlights some of the growing problems in the delivery of healthcare: Big Medicine: The Cost Of Corporate Control And How Doctors And Patients Working To Get Her Can Rebuild A Better System.

 

I am often asked how the Affordable Care Act and other new laws affect the patient-perspective advice I give in my book, Patient Confidential, Tips and Advice To Keep You Safe As You Navigate the Healthcare System. My answer is that being an informed, interactive patient will be even more critical with these new laws in effect. There will be many more patients vying for a static or perhaps even diminishing number of healthcare providers. The patient must make the very most of every healthcare encounter.

Dr. George says in her book, "There is no question among doctors that limiting healthcare access will become the future. Adding 30 million more people enrolled in government-paid Medicaid into a system now shackled by reduced resources makes it impossible to avoid limiting access."

 

She goes on to describe some of the consequences of this, "An unintended consequence of the Affordable Care Act is the sacrifice of the doctor patient relationship enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath. The pressure for doctors to practice medicine driven by government mandated cost control measures will ultimately affect an individual's right to determine the course of their own healthcare."

 

I advise people to study up now on how to influence the quality or their healthcare if they have not already done so.