Funny ICD-10 Codes Have Ruined the ICD-10 Branding

The people at online physician community, QuantiaMD, recently sent me a list of the top 3 “Crazy ICD-10 Codes” that they got from their community. It was quite interesting to learn that when they asked their community for these codes, they yielded double the participation the company typically sees. No doubt, physicians have globbed on to these funny and crazy ICD-10 codes. I’ll be honest. I’ve gotten plenty of laughs over some of the funny ICD-10 codes as well. Seriously, you can’t make some of this stuff up. Here’s a look at the top 3 crazy ICD-10 codes they received (and some awesome color commentary from the nominators):

1. W16.221 – Fall into bucket of water, causing drowning and submersion. I didn’t realize mopping the floor was so dangerous!
2. 7. Z63.1 – Problems in relationship with in-laws. Really, Who does not?
3. V9733xD – Sucked into jet engine, subsequent encounter. Oops I did it again.

While these codes are amazing and in many respects ridiculous, they’re so over the top that they’ve branded ICD-10 as a complete joke. For every legitimate story about the value of ICD-10 there have probably been 10 stories talking about the funny and crazy ICD-10 codes. You can imagine which story goes viral. Are you going to share the story that talks about improvement in patient care or the one that makes you laugh? How come the story about their being no ICD-9 code for Ebola hasn’t gone viral (Yes, ICD-10 has a code for Ebola)?

Unfortunately, I don’t think the proponents of ICD-10 have done a great job making sure that the dialog on the benefits of ICD-10 is out there as well. Yes, it’s an uphill battle, but most things of worth require a fight and can easily get drowned out by humor and minutiae if you give up. If ICD-10 really is that valuable, then it’s well worth the fight.

My fear is that it might be too late for ICD-10. Changing the ICD-10 brand that has been labeled as a joke is going to be nearly impossible to change. However, there are some key people on the side of ICD-10. CMS for starters. If you can get the law passed, then the ICD-10 branding won’t matter.

One thing I do know is that doing nothing means we’ll get more and more articles about Funny ICD-10 codes and little coverage of why ICD-10 needs to be implemented. I encourage those who see the value in ICD-10 to make sure their telling that part of the story. If you don’t have your own platform to share that part of the story, I’ll be happy to offer mine. Just drop me a note on my contact us page.

About the author

John Lynn

John Lynn is the Founder of HealthcareScene.com, a network of leading Healthcare IT resources. The flagship blog, Healthcare IT Today, contains over 13,000 articles with over half of the articles written by John. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 20 million times.

John manages Healthcare IT Central, the leading career Health IT job board. He also organizes the first of its kind conference and community focused on healthcare marketing, Healthcare and IT Marketing Conference, and a healthcare IT conference, EXPO.health, focused on practical healthcare IT innovation. John is an advisor to multiple healthcare IT companies. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can be found on Twitter: @techguy.

11 Comments

  • Hmmmm . . .

    Re “V9733xD – Sucked into jet engine, subsequent encounter. Oops I did it again.”

    I suppose “subsequent encounter” would have a higher rate of reimbursement, given it would pretty much have to be a “house visit”, the venue being the morgue?

    A better description might be . .

    “V9733xD – Sucked into jet engine, subsequent encounter, new location.”

  • Thanks for posting the serious side of ICD-10 codes. The really funny thing is that most of those “funny” codes aren’t even required by payers. It’s the codes that are critically important to providers – like correct ICD-10 coding of MIs, CHF, asthma, surgical episodes – that should have us all talking.

  • True John, your examples are funny and for those who wish to focus on these types of codes that are only possible not probable, thereby justifying in their minds that ICD-10 is a joke, so be it.

    Of course these are the ones that go viral because it’s easy fodder for the nay-sayers who are either afraid of this code set or get funding from the AMA. Let’s face it, people like and want to laugh; it’s only human nature, and most people are not going to laugh about the code for the Type II diabetic with hypoglycemia who is in a coma, E11.641.

    To label ICD-10 as a joke because of the mere existence of having a code that will most likely never be used makes as much sense as taking a shiny Lexus to the wrecking yard because a tail light is out.

    As you said we have to get the law passed and I encourage all to join the @AHIMA Resources Twitter Rally to let congress know #ICD10Matters.

  • Not only are we missing a code for Ebola in ICD-9, we’re missing a code for autonomic dysreflexia – a relatively common potentially life-threatening complication of spinal cord injuries. This is just one tiny example of the important patient data we’re failing to capture while the U.S. drags its collective feet and lags 20 years behind other WHO member nations in ICD-10 implementation.

    Thanks for your article!

  • “To label ICD-10 as a joke because of the mere existence of having a code that will most likely never be used makes as much sense as taking a shiny Lexus to the wrecking yard because a tail light is out.”

    Unfortunately, I think many don’t dive deeper than the headlines. Branding is a tricky thing when people don’t really research the details.

  • Hi John,

    Definitely some codes to laugh at. However, the first code is actually something that can and has occurred. W16.221 – Fall into bucket of water, causing drowning and submersion. If you have ever been around toddlers, drownings of children have occurred by just such an instance. It is quite common for farms to use alot of buckets of water for different reasons. Even something like washing your car or windows and leaving an unattended bucket of water has resulted in the death of a small child. Not chastising you at all, please do not take it that way. Having known of a family that lost a child in this way, it just hit a little close to home.

  • Bill,
    Good point. I’d suggest that all of these have occurred. That’s why they’re in the code set. Although, they’re probably in ways you wouldn’t expect. When you think about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, you can see there are a lot of different size buckets. So, it’s easy to see how it could happen if you’re not careful with children. As a father of 4, I’m always amazed that children survive at all.

    Thanks for providing some added perspective. Hopefully we can work to enjoy the ICD-10 humor, but also add a new level of practical ICD-10 conversation as well.

  • @Bill…I too have a connection with a drowning in a bucket of water…I’m getting rather irked at idiots and sometimes at ignorant people too (though I give them a little slack) who make light of real things that happen to real people. Not funny at all…

    “Drowning in a bucket of water is NOT funny, NOT zany, NOT wacky and NOT bizarre!” http://shimcode.blogspot.com/2014/09/drowning-in-bucket-of-water-is-not.html

    @karl.walter.keirstead – FYI…”subsequent encounter” or sequelae refers to “a condition that is the consequence of a previous disease or injury” – not a second occurrence of a condition or accident such as V9733xD – Sucked into jet engine, subsequent encounter.

    Ignorance of medical concepts and terminology is certainly not helping ICD-10, that’s for sure.

  • Thank you for the post! We have laughs about the crazy codes as well, but clearly the US needs to make the switch to enable better disease tracking and population health management.
    Yes, branding matters.

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