Who is in charge of these updates?

March 9-10, 2016 the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee met to discuss changes to ICD-10-CM, which begin October 1, 2016 at the earliest.  A representative from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS - part of the CDC) and one from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) co-chair the meetings. NCHS is responsible for classification of diagnoses while CMS is responsible for ICD-10-PCS (which is only used in an inpatient/facility setting at this time).
The ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee’s role is advisory. All final decisions are made by the Director of NCHS and the Administrator of CMS. Final decisions are made at the end of the year and become effective October 1 of the following year.

 Where can I find the official changes?

Official code revision packages, which are referred to as addenda, are available from the CDC.  The agenda for the March 2016 meeting included 1928 proposed new codes for ICD-10-CM, but the official addendum is not released until June 2016.  Deadline for public comments on proposed new codes from the March meeting is April 8, 2016.  

A few of the new codes (such as codes for the Zika virus) may be fast tracked for addition on October 1, 2016, but most would go into effect in 2017.  None of them appear to be significant for chiropractors and physical medicine, except perhaps a proposed Z code for exercise counseling. 

How can I suggest code changes?

The ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee meets twice a year. At these meetings, the public is asked to comment on whether or not requests for new diagnosis or procedure codes should be created based on the criteria of the need to capture a new technology or disease. Although it is a Federal Committee, suggestions for modifications come from both the public and private sectors. Interested parties must submit proposals for modification prior to a scheduled meeting via http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd9cm_maintenance.htm.  

Proposals for a new code should include:

• Description of the code(s)/change(s) being requested
• Rationale for why the new code/change is needed (including clinical relevancy)
• Supporting clinical references and literature should also be submitted.

Proposals should be consistent with the structure and conventions of the classification.

The next meeting is Sept. 13-14, 2016, with proposals due July 15, 2016.  If accepted, these proposals would not go into effect until 2017, at the earliest.

What I really want to know is, will I need to buy a new ICD-10 code book?

At this point, it appears that proposed changes will have very little impact on Doctors of Chiropractic.  However, ChiroCode Premium Members will soon have access to an online coding library that is always current because it is updated as soon as changes are made official.  The 2016 ICD-10-CM Coding for Chiropractic book does not contain any real code updates from the prior edition, but many new features were added.  For example, the Tabular List was redesigned to be more user friendly, two new “common codes” lists were added, and about 40 new pages of tips and documentation examples were created with the chiropractor in mind.  The 2017 edition will be enhanced further as we continue to learn more about how payers view ICD-10.  If you don’t have one yet, you can also pick up the “ICD-10-CM Cheat Sheet” for just $19. 

Stay tuned to ChiroCode.com for more updates and tools as they become available.