International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

​Why is the ICD important?

According to the World Health Organization, the ICD is important because it provides a common language for reporting and monitoring diseases. This allows the world to compare and share data in a consistent and standard way – between hospitals, regions and countries and over periods of time. It facilitates the collection and storage of data for analysis and evidence-based decision-making.

​ICD-10 refers to the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases.

The ICD-10 codes allow for detailed classifications of patients’ conditions, injuries, and diseases. Medical coders are now equipped to capture anatomic sites, etiologies, comorbidities and complications, as well as severity of illnesses.

ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS came into effect for medical claims reporting in 2015, but the two code sets primary distinctions are:

• ICD-10-CM—diagnosis code set used for all healthcare settings

• ICD-10-PCS—procedure code set used only in hospital inpatient settings

•  

Resources

• AHA Central Office
  "The American Hospital Association's Central Office serves as the official U.S. Clearinghouse on medical coding for the proper use of the ICD-9-CM systems and Level I HCPCS (CPT-4 codes) for hospital providers and certain Level II HCPCS codes for hospitals, physicians and other health professionals."
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

  Excellent government site for latest news, coding descriptions and guidelines coders for ICD -10.
• Find-A-Code

  Access searchable code book sets, medicare manuals guides, tutorials and helpful coding tools.
• ICD10Data.com

  Free access to all newly released ICD-10 codes and other information including: diagnosis codes, procedure codes, HCPCS codes, coding rules, tables, indexes and DRG data.

International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision

For further information, see the ICD-11 Frequently Asked Questions from the World Health Organization.