Friday, February 17, 2012

Dolphin bite? There's a medical code for that?

 I wonder if there is a code for this:


Coming soon to a doctor's office near you...
(NPR)- Poking fun at a complex new system for classification of diseases is surprisingly easy and enjoyable.

Yes, there are codes your doctor will be able to use someday to submit bills for treatment of a dolphin bite (W5601XA), being struck by a dolphin (W5602XA) or "other contact" with a dolphin (W5603XA). And that's just the start.

Thousands of detailed codes form the backbone of a billing system that the federal government has been seeking to modernize for a while. The U.S., unlike other countries, is still using old codes.

But it's going to take a while longer before things change. The Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday it's delaying implementation of the ICD-10, short for International Classification of Disease, 10th Revision.
  Many doctors had raised a ruckus about the inconvenience and expense of switching to ICD-10 when so many other things are changing in health care.

The regulations requiring the move were published three years ago, and were set to take effect in Oct. 2013, two years later than originally planned. Keep on reading...

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