ICD-10 was launched in October 2015 by the World Health Organization (WHO). ICD-10-CM is the United States’ clinical modification of the WHO’s ICD-10. ICD-10 features a much larger number of concepts and codes than its predecessors, and most healthcare providers rely on experienced medical coding companies to submit code claims accurately and maximize reimbursement.
A recent report published by leading provider of market intelligence Future Market Insights analyzes U.S. ICD-10 market trends for the period 2016-2026. The report identifies the two key drivers of the demand for ICD-10 as:
- The need for quality measurement and medical error reduction for the safety of patients
- The need for a large amount of medical data for the purposes of clinical research
Compared to ICD-9-CM, the ICD-10-CM/PCS code set has:
- nearly 19 times more procedure codes
- nearly 5 times more diagnosis codes
- a much larger number of combination codes
By enabling greater specificity in identifying health conditions, ICD-10-CM enables providers to create more precise treatment protocols leading to better patient experiences and improved health outcomes.
ICD-10 also provides more and better data for clinical research trials. This expansive code set allows researchers to measure and monitor health care utilization and the quality of patient care more effectively. Researchers need to have accurate and comprehensive data for clinical trials when tracking potential global epidemics, pandemics and deadly outbreaks, and when making comparisons to evaluate new drug therapies. ICD-10 allows that level of tracking. ICD-10’s improved data and documentation allows researchers to predict trends in healthcare more quickly and provide better information on disease prevention and possible adverse effects.
The Future Market Insights market study classifies the major ICD-10 end users as healthcare providers, coders, IT professionals, insurance carriers and government agencies. The report notes that the ICD-10 implementation has proved very expensive for healthcare providers across the country. This is because each healthcare provider’s chain generally has a minimum of 100 physicians and many other entities.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) publishes updates of ICD-10 every year and it is crucial that healthcare providers are in the loop. Established medical coding companies ensure that their coding team keeps up to date on ICD-10 trends. They provide cost-effective medical coding services for healthcare organizations and physicians’ practices. Their error-free, timely solutions enable providers to meet compliance and maximize revenue.
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