As coders grow and mature in their knowledge and experience with ICD-10, it's vital hospital and health system administrators pinpoint and address coding deficiencies. In a new study, ICD-10 Monitor identified hospitals' five most problematic areas for coding accuracy.
For the study, ICD-10 Monitor compiled and analyzed data from 300 coders at 50 health systems using Central Learning, a web-based coder assessment tool. Data represented both experienced coders and coders-in-training. Researchers compared coder accuracy from the first quarter of 2016 to accuracy achieved at the midway point of the second quarter.
Below are three findings.
1. Overall, coding accuracy improved from Q1 to halfway through Q2. Inpatient coding accuracy improved from 83.1 percent to 84.9 percent, ambulatory coding improved from 80.8 percent to 82.7 percent and emergency services coding improved from 85.6 percent to 88.9 percent.
2. Coder accuracy in five particular areas was well below industry standards, however.
These categories included: VOO-Y99 (external causes of morbidity), ROO-R99 (symptoms, signs and abnormal findings), S00-T88 (injury, poisoning and other external), Q00-Q99 (congenital malformations), D50-D89 (diseases of the blood and organs).
3. Coding accuracy improved slightly in these areas between Q1 and halfway through Q2. V00-Y99 coding accuracy improved from 51.1 percent to 67.1 percent, R00-R99 improved from 58 percent to 72.2 percent, S00-T88 improved from 63.6 percent to 81.3 percent, Q00-Q99 improved from 62.5 percent to 74.1 percent and D50-D89 improved from 66.1 percent to 72.3 percent.
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