Ob-Gyn Coding Alert

HHS will release new ICD-9 codes bi-annually beginning next year

Beginning in 2005, you can look forward to two ICD-9 updates each year instead of one.

According to the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which President Bush signed into law in December 2003, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must update ICD-9 codes twice each year. HHS will release the new diagnosis codes April 1 and Oct. 1 in an effort to improve recognition of new technologies, HHS stated.

The department is soliciting comments regarding its proposals for the increased ICD-9 revisions. The more frequent updates will likely prove more costly for publishers of coding books and software companies, which will have to modify their products more frequently, and for healthcare providers, who will have to purchase the new material.