Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: I often find myself coding ICD-9 in my head and then using a tool to "translate" to ICD-10, just because I've used ICD-9 for so long. My coworkers are giving me a hard time about this - do I really need to change?

Codify Subscriber

Answer: Yes, you really do need to change. Here are some good reasons:

• The October ICD-10 2018 update is the last time Medicare will provide General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs) to help you convert ICD-9 to ICD-10
• ICD-10 provides much more detail than ICD-9. Relying on GEMs often means reporting a less-specific code that ignores available information that ICD-9 doesn't represent, such as laterality
• The ICD-9 code set is no longer updated, so the codes become less accurate as passing time brings new understanding of medical conditions are reckoned only in the newer code set.

Do this: Instead of using GEMs and look-up tools, such as the tool available on https://www.aapc.com/codes/ to "translate" ICD-9 codes into ICD-10, use these as a learning device to get yourself comfortable with ICD-10.

To see links to the GEMs and other information, visit www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/2018-ICD-10-CM-and-GEMs.html.