All Entries Tagged With: "coder"
A coding instructor’s point of view
As I heaved my ICD-9 Manual, projector, and laptop into the overhead bin on my flight home from Atlanta this past Friday after teaching an inpatient coding boot camp, a thought occurred to me: What am I going to do when ICD-10 is released?
With about 150,000 codes (diagnoses and procedures), I wonder how small the print will be in the coding manuals? I don’t know about you, but the print is pretty small right now. A document CMS recently posted titled ICD-10-CM/PCS Myths & Facts stated that one publisher’s ICD-10 coding manual was only about two inches thick.
Consider the following numbers: In the July 2009 version of the ICD-10-CM manual, the Alphabetic Index alone contains about 1,350 pages, and the Tabular Index is about 2,350 pages! So that adds up to 4,700 pages of diagnosis codes (Volumes 1-2). If you measure the width of your current book, it is probably about two inches now with about 14,000 codes. So how do all the codes fit on the same number of pages when they are increasing by 54,000 codes? I’ll be interested to see.
Coders who work in an inpatient or hospital setting may not use a hard copy coding book these days anyway with the advent of the encoder many moons ago. But for consultants, auditors, or coders who work in an office setting, the hard copy coding book is a staple in our arsenal of resources. There are many coding professional who still routinely carry their coding manuals. Coders for physician offices will be able to choose from almost 70,000 diagnosis codes in ICD-10-CM, so some may decide to purchase coding software as an alternative to the hard copy manuals.
As a coding instructor, I think the whole methodology of teaching and learning coding will require adaptation to the times. Live coding classes may have to accommodate automated coding software as well as hard copy manuals. This is a bit worrisome because it could disrupt the flow of everyone learning using the same medium. As a strong advocate of live learning, I think remote learning options may unfortunately become more prevalent.
For those taking national coding certification exams (e.g., CPC, CCS, CCS-P), administering organizations such as the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) will likely have to allow automated coding software for examinations. Currently, the AHIMA administers their exams on computers, but you still utilize the hard copy coding manuals to assign codes. The AAPC exams are currently on paper using the hard copy manuals. I am sure that both organizations are already working on how they can accommodate this major increase in the volume of codes in 2013 (e.g., what code books people will use, how they will access the code sets).
ICD-10 brings with it many challenges that I think will not be realized until much closer to the implementation date. Right now, it seems so far away. But as someone who will be thinking ahead about how to prepare people for ICD-10, the challenge extends beyond just knowing the code sets but also being able to use any technology that may replace the current hard copy manuals. Hospitals use costly encoders, but what about small physician offices? What will they do if the coding manual is too cumbersome?
Alleviate fears with ICD-10 fact sheet
Discussions are starting regarding ICD-10, and there are many rumblings in the coding community. Just like anything else, something new and different can bring on feelings of being overwhelmed. Yes, ICD-10 does have a different look and feel, but it is not as challenging as many may believe. Many people have expressed to me their fears about this new coding system, conveying that they have heard how difficult it will be to use ICD-10. I am posting an ICD-10 fact sheet CMS published that will hopefully alleviate some fears and end some of the myths generated in the coding community.
