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As you are likely to already know, the medical industry operates on a series of codes to describe diagnoses and treatments. Just like mathematics, medicine operates as a universal system.A patient seeing a doctor in Tennessee for chronic coughing and chest pain can be referred to someone in Nebraska with a code to follow – a number that conveys the exact problem to another doctor miles and customs away.
ICD-9-CM codes are a specific type of medical coding, and you first have to break down the name structure to understand what they’re for:
- First of all, “ICD” stands for “International Classification of Diseases.” ICD is a publishes system of disease coding for all known diseases and factors proven to result in fatalities.
- The number 9 refers to the revision; thus, “ICD-9” indicates that it is the ninth revision of the publication. New revisions come out when significant enough changes have been made to necessitate an entirely separate publication.
- “CM” stands for “Clinical Modification,” which indicates that diagnosis and treatment codes have been added to the coded afflictions/circumstances of death. ICD codes only cover causes of death, whereas ICD-CM also includes treatments.
Medical coders use ICD-9-CM codes when billing insurance companies or other payers of a medical service. These codes describe everything from the medical problem that brought the patient to the hospital to the treatment’s results.
Matching the diagnosis and treatment codes also keeps a thorough file of a hospital or practice’s activity. If the office’s integrity comes into question, a medical coder can refer back to the file with ninth revision code books in hand to make sure the file is straight.
Because this is the ninth revision in a constantly revised publication, soon its codes will be discontinued. However, until October 2013, it will continue to be used to record medical diagnoses and treatments as well as bill insurance companies and payers.
You may have further questions on revisions. If so see this post on using prior year's medical coding books.
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Click here to see the practice exams or to view the additional CPC exam study guides click here.
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