ICD-9-CM: Legacy Diagnostic Coding System and Its Transition to ICD-10

The ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification) was a coding system maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It was widely used for assigning diagnostic codes to inpatient, outpatient, and physician office services. ICD-9-CM codes typically consisted of three to five numeric characters, with exceptions like V codes, E codes, and M codes, which began with a single letter.

However, the ICD-9-CM system faced significant limitations. Its lack of specificity made it difficult to assign precise diagnoses, compare costs, treatments, and healthcare technologies. As a result, the ICD-9 code set was officially deprecated and replaced by ICD-10 codes on September 30, 2015, offering greater detail and accuracy for modern medical needs.

The final version of ICD-9-CM included 14,567 diagnostic codes, organized into 20 different categories. These categories encompassed a broad range of conditions and medical scenarios, but the system's constraints necessitated the transition to ICD-10 for improved healthcare documentation and analysis.

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