What Is the ICD-10 PCS Coding System?

The ICD-10 PCS is a procedure coding system used for medical diagnosis and insurance billing. Through September 2013, medical professionals may continue to use ICD-9 CM and CPT-4 coding manuals. With the upcoming conversion to ICD-10, medical insurance coders will need additional training to use the new coding system.

New Codes

• The new codes in the ICD-10 system have seven characters and are alphanumeric. The capital letters "I" and "O" are not used since they are too easily confused with the numbers "1" and "0."

Punctuation

• No punctuation is used in the ICD-10 classification. In the ICD-9 International Classification of Diseases, codes are mostly numeric. Categories and subcategories are used to provide the greatest detail to a diagnosis code. The codes referenced in ICD-9 can have one, or sometimes, two numbers after a decimal which represent the categories and subcategories of each diagnosis code.

ICD-10 Transition

• The conversion to ICD-10 is set for Oct. 1, 2013. Providers must use ICD-10 codes after this date when health insurance claims are submitted to receive payment. Failure to do so could result in the claim being denied.