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. 2024 Nov 12;12(11):e6304.
doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000006304. eCollection 2024 Nov.

Quantifying Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Engagement in the Evolution of ICD-10 Codes

Rachel Donaldson  1 , Taylor G Hallman  1 , Umer Qureshi  1 , Hannah Soltani  1 , Christian Arcelona  1 , Kristof S Gutowski  1 , Anitesh Bajaj  1 , Arun K Gosain  1
Affiliations

Quantifying Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Engagement in the Evolution of ICD-10 Codes

Rachel Donaldson et al. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. .

Abstract

Background: International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 code specificity is important for detailed diagnostic documentation. Insufficient coding granularity in plastic surgery may hinder accurate clinical documentation, impacting education, research, and patient care. This study examines ICD-10 code modification efforts by plastic surgeons and plastic surgery organizations within the last decade, subsequently detailing the formal proposal process and highlighting potential areas where coding modifications may be explored.

Methods: A retrospective review of all modification proposals presented to the ICD Coordination and Maintenance Committee from March 2013 to March 2023 was conducted. Plastic surgery-related proposals were identified and evaluated for successful implementation. These results were compared to those of other specialties using Fisher exact tests and 2-tailed t tests.

Results: A total of 472 unique proposals were identified and reviewed. Surgeons and/or surgical organizations contributed to 111 (23.5%) novel proposals, 41 (36.9%) of which were initiated by surgeons. Nine surgical specialties and 14 supporting organizations were represented. The success rate for all surgical-related proposals was 85.6%, with an average time to implementation of 24.7 months. Only 2 (1.8%) of all surgical-related proposals pertained to plastic surgery, both of which were successfully implemented.

Conclusions: Though a few plastic surgeons have taken advantage of the ICD code revision process within the last decade, the high overall success rate for surgical-related proposals suggests that this seems to be a feasible method by which plastic surgeons and plastic surgery organizations can bring about useful coding changes that meaningfully impact clinical practice.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial or other conflicts of interest to disclose in relation to the content of this article. Disclosure statements are at the end of this article, following the correspondence information.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Graph displaying average time from initial presentation to implementation of successful proposals stratified by associated surgical specialty. *Pediatric surgery had a singular proposal and thus does not display an error bar measuring SD.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Overview of ICD-10-CM proposal submission process. *Coding changes are implemented in October of the year after proposal acceptance (eg, proposals accepted in 2023 will go live in October 2024).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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