ICD 10: "what orthopedic surgeons should know, how it will affect them and the cost of implementation?"

Orthopedic surgeons will be required to use ICD-10-CM codes for reimbursement and to substantiate the medical necessity for their services beginning October 1, 2014. Implementation of ICD10 will require significant changes in the clinical and administrative processes of orthopedic offices and hospital practices. As in other countries, implementation added costs and resulted in disruptions in physician practices with concomitant decreases in productivity and practice revenue. Through education and planning, orthopedic surgeons can mitigate the anticipated changes and reduce the potential impact these changes will have on their practices. Changes anticipated in the diagnostic part of the ICD10 coding system are reviewed with examples pertinent to orthopedic surgeons. Many will need to improve the accuracy and specificity of their documentation by using anatomically precise nomenclature and obtaining a more detailed history and physical examination. This will require eliciting external causes of patients' problems, the precise activity of causation, and the place of occurrence.