Since the time we have come to know that ICD-9-CM will be replaced by ICD10 codes in future, we are more eager to learn these new codes. For the diagnosis part, that is Volume 1 and 2 part of ICD9 is same compared to ICD10 because the guidelines remains the same. The only difference will be the use of new alphanumeric codes in ICD10. Until now, everyone has only thought about diagnosis what about ICD Volume 3 procedure codes? So, here are the main challenges who don’t know What is ICD-10-PCS coding. So, I am just here to give some information about this coding system. ICD-10-PCS (Procedure coding system) is going to replace ICD 9 volume 3 procedure codes completely. So, for coders especially inpatient coders need to know What ICD-10-PCS is? So we go ahead and learn few important things about ICD-10-PCS.

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Table of Contents

What is ICD-10-PCS?

ICD1-10-PCS is a combination of alpha and numeric to form procedure codes to provide a coding system of medical classification to determine payment and support EHR (electronic health record) for all the inpatient procedure performed in United States. The codes are designed in such a way that the coders can filter the codes on the basic of section, root operation, body part, approach, device etc. to reach out to the correct procedure codes. First let use checkout how these codes are different from ICD 9 volume 3 codes.

1. ICD-CM has only Numeric for Procedure codes but ICD-10-PCS codes are alphanumeric
2. ICD-9-CM are normally 3 to 4 digits long but ICD-10-PCS has seven compulsory characters to code any procedure.
3. ICD-9-CM follow diagnosis coding structure but iCD-10-PCS designed to meet healthcare needs for a procedure code system
4. Codes are fixed and are provided in a list in ICD-9-CM but ICD-10-CM has code arranged in Tables with values provided to each component to easily reach to correct procedure code.

Read also: Learn Z codes in ICD10-CM replacing V codes of ICD 9

Characters of ICD-10-PCS code structure

All codes in ICD-10-PCS are seven characters long. Each character in the seven-character code represents an aspect of the procedure, as shown in the following diagram of characters from the main section of ICD-10-PCS, called Medical and Surgical.

Characters of ICD-10-PCS