The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange recently released a report on its ICD-10 national pilot program, and the groups found many errors existed in the transition to the new coding system.
Only 63 percent of ICD-10 codes were accurate, and some errors were more prevalent than others. Here are seven common ICD-10 errors that HIMSS and WEDI highlighted in their report.
1. Coders often confused the number "0" with the uppercase letter "O."
2. Coders often confused the number "1" with the lowercase letter "l."
3. Occasionally, coders coded the diagnosis code but forgot the procedure code.
4. Most coder errors were due to incomplete records or codes that were associated with the wrong medical test case number.
5. Coders often did not specify the type of chest pain.
6. Laterality and specificity were often left out of many codes (e.g. "pain in limb").
7. Coders often went on "auto pilot," meaning they relied on coding software instead of their code books. HIMSS and WEDI said "this is a problem today that will not necessarily go away with ICD-10."
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Report: Only 63% of ICD-10 Documentation Accurately Coded
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Survey: Hospitals Lag in Payer Preparations for ICD-10