Patients tend to tune out the numbers they see on medical paperwork. However, to medical, insurance, and public health entities, these numbers are vital. They are the medical billing & coding numbers that form a universal language for the specific identification of diseases, injuries, tests, and procedures.
According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) "The WHO Family of International Classifications," WHO oversees the promulgation of health classifications. The collection of all coding tools is the WHO-FIC (World Health Organization Family of Classifications). It includes the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI).
WHO notes in "International Classification of Diseases (ICD)," that the ICD is now in its tenth edition (ICD-10), which was endorsed in 1990 and put into use in 1994. Used by health agencies for tracking morbidity and mortality through medical records and death certificates, it classifies diseases and injuries.
"The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)," explain the use of the ICF, a more recent compendium of codes for health and disability, with domains for body, individual, and societal factors. The ICF is broken down into two lists, one for bodily functions and structures, and the other for domains of activity and participation. It also includes environmental factors that have an impact on individuals' functioning.
"The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI)," explains how the ICHI provides researchers, health agencies, and service providers with codes for reporting and analyzing health interventions in various degrees of specificity. The common terminology allows for easy comparisons of data. Initially limited to surgical procedures, the ICHI now covers a wide range of both curative and preventative health care services.
Meditech, a member of the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), explains in "Resorouces," that the standardized system for medical billing and coding is the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)..
The United States Department of Health and Human Services has delegated authority under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) for the establishment of uniform medical billing codes. Both public and private insurers use this coding system to process claims. The two principal subsystems of HCPCS are level I and level II.
Level I use the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) developed and maintained by the American Medical Association (AMA). These five-digit codes are used to identify services and procedures provided by health care professionals and facilities. The AMA reviews and updates the CPT codes annually.
Level II codes identify medical products, supplies, and services that are not covered under the CPT. These codes are alpha-numeric, consisting of a single letter and four digits. The alpha characters include A for ambulance services and general supplies, D for dental services, and J for injections.
Together, these coding systems enable providers, researchers, insurers, health departments, vital records offices, and epidemiologists, as well as governmental and non-governmental agencies, to uniformly obtain and analyze the full range of medical needs and trends worldwide.
Mitchell Gavillion is a freelance writer who covers various industries including health care, education, and fitness. Mitchell has been focusing on ICD-10 and the impact on medical billing and coding certification.
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