Physicians who bill insurers or the federal government for their patients' health care costs will become responsible this fall for incorporating almost 7,000 diagnostic code changes into their practice of medicine and keeping of electronic medical records (EMR).
Many doctors will avoid this burden by billing their patients directly, and by using EMR software designed with patient care as its primary goal instead of compliance with federal requirements.
Starting in October, 5,739 new medical codes will become valid, 850 will be revised, and 323 will be deleted from ICD-10, the most recent version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, a list of diagnoses maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to the reference website ICD10Data.com.
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