So Many Codes, So Little Time

The U.S. transition from the International Classification of Diseases Revision 9 (ICD-9) to ICD-10 has been underway for years, with a couple of deadline extensions adding to the timeline. The most recent deadline delay is a bit of a reprieve for overworked ICD-10 transition teams, as long as organizations don’t squander the extra time. Meanwhile, there are some organizations, namely Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that are just opposed to ICD-10, period.

Some suspected that CMS might abandon the move to ICD-10, or perhaps wait for the next revision–ICD-11– from the World Health Organization in 2015.

For one thing, waiting for ICD-11 would eventually bring more work to healthcare organizations making the switch from ICD-9, since ICD-11 is expected to build on ICD-10. Also, a sudden about-face to skip ICD-10 and move to ICD-11 would be unfair and disruptive to organizations that have been diligent in transitioning to ICD-10.

Abridged, from an original article by Marianne Kolbasuk McGee,Senior Writer, InformationWeek, 27/04/2012