General Surgery Coding Alert

Question: We just learned about ICD-9 2012 changes that go into effect Oct. 2011. How many more ICD-9 updates will we have before we need to switch to ICD-10?

New Mexico Subscriber

Answer: With ICD-10 implementation set for October 2013, the ICD-9 Coordination and Maintenance Committee has implemented a partial freeze of ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes in the interim. The approved schedule will be:

• The last regular, annual updates to both ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 code sets will be made on October 1, 2011
• On October 1, 2012, there will be only limited code updates to both the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 code sets to capture new technologies and diagnoses
• On October 1, 2013, there will be only limited code updates to ICD-10 code sets to capture new technologies and diagnoses
• On October 1, 2014, regular updates to ICD-10 will begin.