I realize this is thread-drift, but it actually is in the same vein of thought.
NY Times
ANDREW POLLACK
12/29/13
Roughed Up by an Orca? There’s a Code for That
Quote:
Next fall, a transformation is coming to the arcane world of medical billing.
Overnight, virtually the entire health care system — Medicare, Medicaid,
private insurers, hospitals, doctors and various middlemen —
will switch to a new set of computerized codes used for determining
what ailments patients have and how much they and their insurers
should pay for a specific treatment.
The changes are unrelated to the Obama administration’s new health care law.
I.C.D.-10, with codes containing up to seven digits or letters,
will have about 68,000 for diagnoses and 87,000 for procedures.
While I.C.D.-9 had a single code for certain repairs to blood vessels in the head and neck,
I.C.D.-10 allows specification of the particular vein or artery and the particular procedure used.
Extra codes allow recording of whether a patient was visiting the doctor
for the first time or a subsequent time for a particular problem,
and whether broken arms and some other injuries occur on the left or right side of the body.
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My daughter has been involved in this transition for the past year.
Her hospital has and entire office staff devoted to reviewing the ICD-10 codes entered by the MD's,
but then changing them to whatever codes are "appropriate" but will generate the highest billing.
Then there is this... and garbage in - garbage out is still true.