Policy & Value-Based Care

AMA, AHIMA Applaud the Early Release of New ICD-10 Codes

March 24, 2016

AMA and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) have both applauded the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the release of more ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes well before Oct. 1, 2016.

Rajiv Leventhal

The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) have both applauded the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the release of more ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes well before Oct. 1, 2016.

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released roughly 1,900 diagnosis codes that will be added to the ICD-10 coding system for healthcare claims in fiscal year 2017. Some 3,651 new ICD-10 inpatient procedure codes for FY 2017 were posted earlier this month. The large number of new codes is due to a partial freeze on updates to the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10 PCS codes prior to implementation of ICD-10 on Oct. 1, 2015. Healthcare organizations will have until the Oct. 1, 2016 implementation deadline for the new coding updates.

The vast majority of the new ICD-10-PCS codes deal with the cardiovascular system. Many relate to unique device values, the addition of bifurcation, congenital cardiac procedures and placement of an intravascular neurostimulator, according to AHIMA.

“The AHA is grateful that the Centers for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have provided an early release of the thousands of new ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes to be implemented Oct. 1, 2016,” Nelly Leon-Chisen, AHA director of coding and classification, said in a statement.

AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, added, “The release of the new ICD-10-PCS and ICD-10 CM codes will provide additional time for the industry to prepare, and the new codes will enhance the specificity of patient stories captured in their health records. The healthcare community proved during a smooth transition to ICD-10 that it is well equipped to meet this opportunity and challenge.”

AHIMA’s Angie Comfort, director, HIM Practice Excellence, said, “These codes will provide so much more granular data. This is information that will be very important for these physicians and their patients. Over time, this more granular data should provide insight for doctors that can help patient outcomes.”