ICD-10 and Big Data
Some doctors might find ICD-10 to include too many codes, but these codes and the new advances of ICD-10 are necessary for big data success in the medical field.
According to resident physician William Rusnak as quoted in a FierceHealth IT article, "doctors will never detect the one-in-a-million disease when it matters".
Change isn't always easy, but it is here to stay. ICD-10 will be beneficial to doctors and in the big picture the shift to ICD-10 can allow for more efficient and precise coding.
The resident physician quoted in the article, Rusnak, went on to explain the big data benefits of ICD-10, emphasizing that with advanced computing power that can accurately record human behavior, ICD-10 can aid in crucial healthcare situations and lead to further efficiency.
Rusnak states that there needs to be a code for even the rarest condition that a patient may have, and that a code should represent specific details of any procedures performed as well.
Following Rusnak's advice that codes need to represent all conditions and procedures and even the variations of both, doctors can then collect big data in a precise manner.
This, in turn, will lead to proper and more accurate decisionmaking when reporting on health.