Preview of New ICD-11 Codes Revealed

New codes to be presented at the September Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting

There is a lot of buzz in the industry about the possibility of ICD-11. We are so many years from that becoming a possibility, though, with our clinical modifications and political culture. And we still have a lot of work to make ICD-10-CM all that we need it to be. It would be disappointing to move to a new code set without making sure all of our coding options have been thought through appropriately. We continue to refine and work on improving ICD-10-CM, and that will only make our efforts for ICD-11 more productive.

Recently I had the pleasure of helping the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders (APFED) work on requesting some new codes, along with some revisions that will be presented at the September Coordination and Maintenance Committee Meeting.

Medicine is constantly evolving, and it’s still important to keep our coding up to date. For this project, it was recognized that some codes in ICD-9-CM were not captured in ICD-10-CM, nor were some terminology changes. What was really interesting is that while some of the codes were missed in ICD-10-CM, they were captured or added in ICD-11. Of the 12 new and 13 revised codes, five of the codes requested are captured in ICD-11. They have also gained the support of several other organizations.

Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell, and they play an important role in our immune system. Eosinophils help us fight off certain types of infections, such as parasites. Eosinophil-associated diseases are chronic and require long-term management. The symptoms may be debilitating and often lead to missed time at school and work, and may greatly impact a patient’s quality of life, according to APFED.

In the organization’s proposal, it cites the need for better research, quoting a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) article in support:

“A recently published article, Revisiting the NIH Taskforce on the Research needs of Eosinophil-Associated Diseases (RE-TREAD), authored by 27 researchers and clinicians, documented (that) ‘eosinophil-associated diseases are rare, heterogeneous disorders characterized by the presence of eosinophils in tissues and/or peripheral blood resulting in immunopathology…histopathologic scoring, patient- and clinician-reported outcomes, and appropriate coding were deemed of paramount importance for research advancements, drug-development and their approval by regulatory agencies…Unique ICD-10 codes can improve disease management and treatment choices, and may result in improved resource allocation and understanding of unmet needs in rare eosinophilic diseases. From a research perspective, utilization of more specific codes is important for better understanding of prevalence, incidence, treatment, and healthcare utilization associated with these diseases, as well as the identification of subjects for potential recruitment into clinical trials.”Khoury PAkuthota PAckerman SJ

The request includes:

Hopefully, the September meeting will generate support for these new codes and revisions so that better data can be tracked, and progress continued. I will be following this proposal in September and then start helping educate our practices on how to use the new codes, along with documentation best practices.

Program Note:

Listen to Rhonda Buckholtz report on topic today on Talk Ten Tuesday, 10 a.m. EDT.

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