Opinion: ICD-10 delay—What's next for healthcare organizations?
Many of the complexities of medicine are distilled down to a vocabulary of diagnostic codes, called the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which are used by doctors, insurers, and hospitals. Today's ICD-9 codes are now more than four decades old. Although the US was aiming to transition to ICD-10 by Oct. 2014, the recently announced postponement, until at least October 2015, presents a dilemma for many providers that were ready to activate the new system. The question that remains is how best to move forward? It's not hard to imagine how the added specificity will drive advancements in managing patient populations, as providers and payers transition from roughly 14,000 codes in ICD-9 to around 69,000 in ICD-10.
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