medical coding trainingIn medical matters, it seems, time never stands still – and it seems that’s an axiom that extends to support skills education such as medical coding training.

Anyone working in the medical billing and coding industry would have to have been living under a rock not to have been embroiled in the debate that’s currently raging over the proposed introduction of the ICD-10 coding system, due for implementation by the SSA in the fall of 2013.

For those of us who don’t have a professional stake in the transition, it may seem like a minor administrative shake-up — but it’s likely to have a knock-on effect on patient care and the management of insurance procedures.

There’s an article in The Republic which tries to take a realistic view of this upgrade, starting with the numbers, for ICD-10, in its attempt to bring greater specificity to record keeping, will bump up the 18,000 or so codes in the current ICD-9 to more than 140,000 in ICD-10 – a change which some industry predictors are likening to the anticipation of Y2K.

We know now, of course, that that particular disaster scenario was massively hyped, and the world’s computerized systems did not grind to a halt on January 1st 2000. But ICD-10 still has the potential to cause disruption, it seems, because countless administrative procedures, software installations and medical forms will have to be revised. This is a task requiring the investment of time as well as money, and a willingness on the part of individual health practitioners and insurance staff to proactively embrace change.

Why is ICD-10 Such a Big Deal?

The codes developed by the World Health Organization are not just for insurance purposes – they’re also used by government agencies and health departments to track developments in public health and disease control. And ICD-10 seeks to collect a much greater range of information by specifying more closely the nature of illnesses, injuries, treatment and procedures.

Too much detail, cry some opponents – not least the American Medical Association, concerned by the cost and threat to the efficiency of healthcare practices across the country.

And it’s certainly the case that those who wish to pour scorn on the transition won’t find it hard to find examples to laugh at (for example, different codes to describe the first and subsequent encounters from walking into a lamppost.) On the other hand, more precise details may prove valuable as medical science become