ICD 10 finally recognizes the dangers inherent in diving !!!!

[Craig66]

Spent a while pursuing the new ICD 10 codes for dive related injuries and do not know whether to laugh or cry that we as tax payers actually payed someone to come up with these ridiculous codes.

For those that dont know, ICD 10 replaced ICD 9 as the official billing classification of all diseases. Essentially your doctor has to use the correct diagnosis code to be payed for his service.

A billing code for being bumped buy a turtle ??? And if that isn't bad enough the poor bumpee got back into the ocean only to be bumped a subsequent time by a turtle and now there is a second billing code for subsequent bumps !!!!

For all of those that have attended a shark feed and been bumped you will be happy to know there is now a code for the first bump and then all subsequent bumps thereafter have their own code !!!!

The best of all has to be the self inflicted stingray attack !!!! - A separate code to the accidental stingray attack

Divers please make sure to be upfront with your doctors - if you got bumped more than once they need to bill appropriately. And also if you self inflicted that stingray sting gotta make sure not to pretend it was accidental. Medicare and the whole medical community could be thrown into disarray !!!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The people that came up with this need to be horse whipped. It's all about getting out of paying. No good lowlifes.

 

[SeaHorse81]

Spent a while pursuing the new ICD 10 codes for dive related injuries and do not know whether to laugh or cry that we as tax payers actually paid someone to come up with these ridiculous codes.

For those that dont know, ICD 10 replaced ICD 9 as the official billing classification of all diseases. Essentially your doctor has to use the correct diagnosis code to be paid for his service.

In all seriousness, how are you in the medical world going to deal with this? I've been aware of this for some time since I am also in health care, but thank goodness, will not have to cope with the level of diagnostic specificity that you now have. I imagine medical offices almost having to hire an additional person whose whole job it will be to figure out EXACTLY which code it has to be for each patient. On the other hand, I suspect there are no code police, so that if you get something in the neighborhood, it will likely be okay. What's your take on it?

 

[uncfnp]

In all seriousness, how are you in the medical world going to deal with this? I've been aware of this for some time since I am also in health care, but thank goodness, will not have to cope with the level of diagnostic specificity that you now have. I imagine medical offices almost having to hire an additional person whose whole job it will be to figure out EXACTLY which code it has to be for each patient. On the other hand, I suspect there are no code police, so that if you get something in the neighborhood, it will likely be okay. What's your take on it?

So far for us it hasn't been the coding nightmare we imagined. But I am lucky in that I just write the diagnosis and the front staff typically finds the code. I just have to be a little more specific with what I write. Fortunately most of our visits fall into a fairly narrow range and we started a cheat sheet before the codes were even implemented. And the front staff has a program that they can type the old ICD 9 codes they have memorized and it will spit out the closest equivalent ICD 10. If its an unfamiliar code and they can't find it, they will then ask our help and I will first check an internet site that will pull possible codes from the diagnosis then I make an semieducated guess at the best fit. If we bring out the code book we are really getting desperate.

It was time for a change. The old system had been in place for 30 odd years and the diagnoses were outdate. But, true to anything bureaucratic, the replacement is in many ways a convoluted mess. The party line is that it improves patient outcomes but that really is bologna. Its for research, tracking and billing. Big brother and reimbursement.

 

[SeaHorse81]

The party line is that it improves patient outcomes but that really is bologna. Its for research, tracking and billing. Big brother and reimbursement.

I couldn't agree more. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Akimbo]

I suppose we should be grateful that we don't have to identify the gender of the stingray along with their party affiliation... yet.

Moderators: We might need a little more slack on this one regarding political comments.

 

[SeaHorse81]

I suppose we should be grateful that we don't have to identify the gender of the stingray along with their party affiliation... yet.

Moderators: We might need a little more slack on this one regarding political comments than usual.

Oh no, we risk going down the rabbit hole now. But wait...

Is this a fall down the rabbit hole, a jump, a trip, or were we pushed? Facing forward or backward at the time? What is the depth of the rabbit hole? Is this the first time down the rabbit hole or has it happened before?

If we're going to honor the ICD 10, we have to be clear about these things.

 

[Kharon]

I imagine medical offices almost having to hire an additional person whose whole job it will be to figure out EXACTLY which code it has to be for each patient.

They do. In fact there are a number of for-profit schools that have "medical billing/coding specialist" as a major subject. Having been a programmer analyst in a NYS epidemology division for a long, long time I can assure you that the data is pretty much worthless for any real research.

 

[JohnnyC]

Well, if I ever have an accident diving, I'll be sure to point out that it was caused by repeated assaults by a rather aggressive and ill-tempered turtle.....

 

[tracydr]

In all seriousness, how are you in the medical world going to deal with this? I've been aware of this for some time since I am also in health care, but thank goodness, will not have to cope with the level of diagnostic specificity that you now have. I imagine medical offices almost having to hire an additional person whose whole job it will be to figure out EXACTLY which code it has to be for each patient. On the other hand, I suspect there are no code police, so that if you get something in the neighborhood, it will likely be okay. What's your take on it?

It is a huge PITA!