2014-03-27

Classification system worthy of legislative intervention?

The ICD-10 diagnostic classification system is due to be adopted by US healthcare systems this year. However, new legislation would defer that change by at least a year. Who would have thought that a group of statisticians working on a list of the causes of death in 1891 would cause billions of dollars to be spent and thousands of hours invested in debating what that list should look like?

This fine system of classification that would have made Linnaeus’ head spin includes classic diagnoses such as:

V91.07xD (burn due to water-skis on fire, subsequent encounter)
W56.22xA, (struck by orca, initial encounter.)
W56.12XA (getting struck by a sea lion)
 V97.33XD (Sucked into jet engine, subsequent encounter)

The orcas may have to wait another year before getting their medical recognition.

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