What are ICD-10-CM codes and why should I care?

The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) is based on the World Health Organization's Tenth Revision, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). ICD-10-CM is the official system of assigning codes to diagnoses associated with hospital utilization in the United States.

ICD-10-CM is more specific than ICD-9-CM in its categorization of diagnosis. This has resulted in an increase in the number of codes from approximately 14,000 ICD-9-CM codes to over 60,000 ICD-10-CM codes. An example of this refinement is seen with carpal tunnel syndrome. ICD-10-CM has codes that explicitly indicates right vs. left hand whereas ICD-9-CM did not. ICD-10-CM will be implemented within the United States starting in 2012 with full conversion legislated to be complete by late 2013.

What does this mean to you?
Starting in 2013, any time you are diagnosed with a medical condition from a physician or other medical provider, the doctor must choose a medical code which is specifically assigned to that condition, an ICD-10-CM medical code to be exact. This makes it possible for you to see multiple doctors for the same condition but helps prevent confusion among these providers about your exact condition.

So, now what can I do with this knowledge?
The EMRy Stick PHR has a list of all ICD-10-CM codes so you can find information about your exact condition. We will soon be launching the Salubrious Blog (salublog) which connects to each and every medical code so you can share medical information about your condition as well as find references to these conditions on the Internet.

Check out ICD-10-CM code F33.9 on Major Depression to see what we mean.