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shouldn't I hold off - till ICD-10?

Posted: Jun 12, 2013

If one has never done any coding wouldn't it be better to wait till the schools are teaching ICD-10?

What school ISN'T teaching ICD-10 - inquiring minds want to know

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not a coder, but this post caught my eye. Is there still a school out there that is teaching ICD 9? Really?

well the one at my jr. college - still says ICD-9

[ In Reply To ..]
and I guess I should not have assumed they all were. I was looking at the program today and thinking about it, and then thought maybe I should wait.

Yes, and that isn't a problem - Coder (NM)

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

My understanding is..... - MTSlave

[ In Reply To ..]
your going to need to know both. If you have new files, you'll need ICD-10. If you're working with older files that have been denied and such, you will need to know ICD-9.

I'm not a coder but I have been doing some research, and still doing more : )

I'm joining the Andrews crowd in September.

what is Andrews teaching - 9 or 10? nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

According to their website - MTSlave

[ In Reply To ..]
Both. They teach ICD-9 first and then ICD-10.

Wouldn't you need to know both to sit for the certs too?

Not necessarily - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
The certification exams will switch from one to the other at some point. They won't include both.

Good to know - MTSlave

[ In Reply To ..]
I have a long way to go before I have to worry about certs. Thanks for the info though.

No - See Msg

[ In Reply To ..]
There is no reason to wait. It is utterly unnecessary.

Because you are not a coder, you think this plan makes sense. "Oh, if I wait, I'll only have to learn one thing!" It doesn't work that way.

It makes more sense to learn to code as soon as possible so that you can get established in a job BEFORE October of 2014. Waiting only means you'll lose income you could have been making and it also means you might have more difficulty getting a job. Employers have enough problems worrying about converting to ICD-10 with existing employees. Do you truly think they will want to train someone new at the same time?

Your plan assumes something that isn't true . . . that learning one coding system is really hard and learning another is even more hard, and that there is no crossover between the two. You probably think learning a code set involves memorizing codes. You would be mistaken on both counts.

You don't learn the code set. You learn to code WITH the code set. Big difference.

Once you have learned ICD-9, ICD-10 is just a matter of transferring yourself to another book. The diseases and conditions are much the same, you know . . . heart disease isn't going to change itself on Sept 30, 2014. It's still going to be heart disease. The code NUMBER is just going to be a little different.

If you can find a code in ICD-9, then you can find a code in ICD-10.

You also need to know both code sets anyway. But, again, that isn't such a big deal since the diseases and conditions are much the same. You will still need to USE ICD-9 for some time after October of 2014 for coding anything from before that date. And, you'll need to know enough to understand claims and coded data from prior to that date.

Finally, it takes about 5 hours to get a grasp on ICD-10 diagnosis coding. If you are coding outpatient, that's all you'll need. It takes a little longer to get a grip on ICD-10 procedure coding, but that's only for inpatient work. Which you aren't likely to be doing. I would not worry about that at all.

You would, in fact, be better off to get through school as fast as you possibly can so that you can test in ICD-9 before the exams switch over. And, so you can get a job before employers stop hiring in order to devote attention to switching over.

Very good points!! nm - MTSlave

[ In Reply To ..]

I don't think so - Current coding student

[ In Reply To ..]
I recently took and passed the CPC, which tests you on ICD-9, and as you can tell by my "nickname," I am a current coding student. My school is teaching ICD-9 only and their advice is to learn that first, then worry about ICD-10.

I personally decided I had waited long enough to enroll in coding school after seeing ICD-10 pushed back so many times and finally got up the courage to enroll after researching schools for close to a year. I am so glad I did. Best of luck to you!

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