Challenges and opportunities with ICD-10-CM/PCS: Implications for surgical research involving administrative data

摘要

International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis and procedure codes have been used to describe and justify reimbursement for hospital care for more than 20 years, As a result, these codes have undergirded numerous health services and surgical outcomes analyses using readily available administrative data. On October 1, 2014, the US Department of Health and Human Services plans to require compliance with the next iteration of ICD in the United States, the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification and Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS). Whereas ICD-9-CM includes approximately 14,000 diagnosis codes and 4,000 procedure codes, ICD-10-CM currently has approximately 79,500 diagnosis codes, and ICD-10-PCS has almost 73,000 procedure codes. ICD-10-CM/PCS also uses entirely new classification approaches that will be unfamiliar to many physicians, researchers, and coding professionals.