The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) code set undoubtedly made a tremendous impact on how documentation was handled by both physician’s office and the medical billing and coding companies. ICD-10 code set that contains 68,000 diagnosis codes and 87,000 procedural codes helps in detailed documentation and accurate coding, resulting in effective patient care and timely payments for hospitals and physicians. A recent market report from Persistence Market Research predicts the ICD-10 market to reach a better growth rate during the forecast period 2015-2025. The report also provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments.
In the U.S., ICD-10 has been split into two systems. While ICD-10-CM (Clinical Modification) is used for diagnostic coding, ICD-10-PCS (Procedure Coding System) is used for inpatient hospital procedure coding. According to the report, major factors that led to the creation and increased demand of ICD-10 are –
- Need for quality measurement and medical error reduction for the safety of patients and
- Need for a large amount of medical data for the purpose of clinical research
As each healthcare provider has a minimum of 100 physicians under it along with other entities in the chain, the implementation of ICD-10 across the country by healthcare providers proves to be very costly. Therefore, implementing it across the chain becomes very expensive for the providers. Professional medical billing services provided by reliable companies can be considered, for the physicians to focus more on patient care, reduce billing errors, ensure billing compliance and thus receive reimbursement on-time.
End users in this market within the healthcare industry include healthcare providers, coders, IT professionals, insurance carriers and government agencies. When it comes to key players, the World Health Organization (WHO) is the sole developer and publisher of ICD-10 codes, while the system is adopted by government agencies and other regulating bodies.
Julie Clements, OSI’s Vice President of Operations, brings a diverse background in healthcare staffing and a robust six-year tenure as the Director of Sales and Marketing at a prestigious 4-star resort.