You should, because it’s part of the increase from 17,000 health codes to 155,000
(Weekly Standard) Ever considered suicide by jellyfish? Have you ended up in the hospital after being injured during the forced landing of your spacecraft? Or been hurt when you were sucked into the engine of an airplane or when your horse-drawn carriage collided with a trolley?
Chances are slim.
But should any of these unfortunate injuries befall you after October 1, 2014, your doctor, courtesy of the federal government, will have a code to record it. On that date, the United States is scheduled to implement a new system for recording injuries, medical diagnoses, and inpatient procedures called ICD-10​—​the 10th version of the International Classification of Diseases propagated by the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. So these exotic injuries, codeless for so many years, will henceforth be known, respectively, as T63622A (Toxic effect of contact with other jellyfish, intentional self-harm, initial encounter), V9542XA (Forced landing of spacecraft injuring occupant, initial encounter), V9733XA (Sucked into jet engine, initial encounter), and V80731A (Occupant of animal-drawn vehicle injured in collision with streetcar, initial encounter).
These codes, increasing from 17K to 155K, are not specifically the fault of Obamacare, having been planned prior, but are considered “the foundation for health care reform”.
It will affect almost every part of the U.S. health care system​—​providers and payers, physicians and researchers, hospitals and clinics, the government and the private sector. That system​—​already stressed with doctor shortages, electronic medical records mandates, and the broader chaos of Obamacare​—​is nowhere near ready. And that has lots of people worried.
Adding this many codes could mean doctors and medical facilities are spending more time dealing with red tape, lost productivity, and lost revenue. If things aren’t perfect, they may not be reimbursed by the insurance company or government.
BTW, there were no plans by Los Federales to engage in end-to-end testing, despite the complete failure during the launch of healthcare.gov, along with most state Ocare websites. Until
In a letter to CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner on February 18, 2014, four Republican senators pressed for comprehensive testing. The senators​—​Tom Coburn, Rand Paul, John Barrasso, and John Boozman​—​are all physicians and expressed deep concern that CMS is planning only one week of “front-end†testing. After receiving the letter, CMS hastily announced that it will offer limited end-to-end testing to “a small group of providers†at some point in “summer 2014†and promised that “details about the end-to-end testing process will be disseminated at a later date.â€
That should work out well
There are codes for those “bitten†by a crocodile, “struck†by a crocodile, and “crushed†by a crocodile. There is also a code for injuries sustained through “other contact†with crocodiles. “I just don’t want to know about ‘other contact,’ especially with farm animals,†says Boynton, to sustained laughter. “That joke doesn’t fly in Montana.â€
Boynton’s “personal favorite†is code V9027XA: “Drowning and submersion due to falling or jumping from burning water-skis, initial encounter.â€
Other fantastic codes are
- S30867A: Insect bite (nonvenomous) of anus, initial encounter.
- V0001XD, or, â€Pedestrian on foot injured in collision with roller-skater, subsequent encounter.â€
- X52: Prolonged stay in weightless environment
- W16.221: drowning in a water bucket
- Z621 Parental overprotection
- Y92241: Hurt at the library
- Y92253 – Hurt at the opera
- And a super winner: Y34 – Unspecified event, undetermined intent
Now just imagine a medical facility having to spend lots and lots of time dealing with all this gobbledygook.
“There were 9 codes for bites in ICD-9,†says Boynton. “There are over 300 in ICD-10.â€
CMS is stating that the date for implementation is October 1, 2014, and that is firm, and God help anyone who refuses to follow the specific dates for Obamacare implementation. Except for CMS. HHS. Obama.
I think you got the coding wrong there Teach. It is obvious that the code is ID-10-T. In some parts of the industry, it is just coded as ID10T.
I still dont understand why the need for all the codings. All you need is a line where the physician writes out the cause of injury. Poof. done. DOes there really even need to be a “reason” for injuries? A person was injured, it was treated, now pay for it.
Am sure David has a thought on these.
As a [retired] programmer I can understand the need for codes – but I fought this sort of overuse for much of my career.
Some while back, a blog by a doctor mentioned new codes. I really laughed that there are at least five codes for – oh my – being burned by water skis! Depending mostly on just where the water skis became afire.
You do realize that these codes are the pay back to the AMA executive board for their support of Obamacare? The AMA is paid to formulate code. This is a much more complicated form than was present before, so it is more expensive and the AMA gets the dollars. At least the executive branch. Note that the AMA only represents about 13% of doctors and that the membership was never polled as to their desire for Obamacare.
Then there is the issue of Jindal. That sorry piece of —-. He is one of the people that made his name decades ago by coming up with the codes. So he is a big government guy and not the conservative he says. I might note that when I simply submitted a diagnosis and procedure in simple English that I got paid far less. With the codes, I got paid about 5 times what I thought was a satisfactory reimbursement. And yes, I will keep the money and stiff the system as much as possible. Note that incorrect code issues are the reason for the supposed high numbers of fraud. When they say there is fraud, they are indicating poor paper support for the level of code. That is a matter of subjective assessment, much as what you experience with the IRS.
Wait. I’m confused.
1) How does the AMA get paid when doctors use a code when submitting paperwork to insurance companies? From what I gathered in the story, the UN was responsible for this code.
2) Are you referring to the current gov of Lousiana – Bobby Jindal? Seems to me that he’s too young to have worked in insurance many decades ago. And he was the one who developed the insurance agency’s codes? I thought you said it was the AMA? Did Jindal work for the AMA in coding during the 70s-80s? Weird since Jindal was born in 1971.
Or is this some other “Jindal”?