What are ICD-9-CM codes and why should I care?

The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) is based on the World Health Organization's Ninth Revision, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). ICD-9-CM is the official system of assigning codes to diagnoses and procedures associated with hospital utilization in the United States.

What does this mean to you?
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-9-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-9-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-9-CM code 296.30 on Major Depression to see what we mean.