The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued a new fact sheet on the ICD-10 coding system healthcare organizations will be required to use by Oct. 1, 2013.

According to CMS, the new classification system, used by hospitals and physicians both for classifying disease and for billing, will result in significant improvements over the ICD-9 system by providing greater detail and the ability to capture additional advancements in clinical medicine.

ICD-10-CM/PCS consists of two parts: the ICD-10-CM, the diagnosis classification developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for use in all U.S. healthcare treatment settings; and the ICD-10-PCS, the procedure classification system developed by CMS for use in the U.S. for inpatient hospital settings only.

According to the fact sheet, diagnosis coding under the ICD-10-CM system will use three to seven alpha and numeric digits and full code titles, but the format is similar to ICD-9-CM. The new procedure coding system will use seven alpha or numeric digits while the ICD-9-CM coding system uses three or four numeric digits.

The current system, ICD-9-CM is 30 years old. According to CMS, it is outdated, obsolete and "cannot accurately describe the diagnoses and inpatient procedures of care delivered in the 21st century."

The CMS fact sheet says ICD-10-CM/PCS will improve the ability to measure healthcare services; increase sensitivity when refining grouping and reimbursement methodologies; enhance the ability to conduct public health surveillance; and decrease the need to include supporting documentation with claims.

It will also provide codes to allow comparison of mortality and morbidity data and will provide better data for Identifying fraud and abuse and conducting research.

CMS says organizations and facilities can plan for ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation by developing a plan that includes identifying stakeholders, assessing impact, formulating strategies and providing training on all levels.

ICD-10-CM/PCS will not affect physicians, outpatient facilities, and hospital outpatient departments' use of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes on Medicare fee-for-service claims as CPT will continue to be used.