Lakewood College Eases Concern for Medical Coding Students Moving From ICD-9 to ICD-10 System

FORT HOOD, Texas - Aug. 2, 2014 - PRLog -- The medical coding industry has recently announced another delay in the implementation of the new International Classification of Disease (ICD) system used by doctors, insurers and hospitals. The new launch date is scheduled for October 1, 2015 leaving many vocational schools questioning which system to teach as they prepare their students for a career within the field.

According to Author and Industry leader, Carol Buck, the new ICD-10 system has already undergone many delays and the expected implementation date of October 1, 2015 may not be accurate. She suggests in a webinar entitled ICD-10 Update: News from the Front, many schools are “jumping the gun” switching their curriculum from ICD-9 to ICD-10 in hopes of preparing students for the future.

Carol Buck points out that focusing on only ICD-10 may only cause frustration when students graduate. National Testing for ICD-10 will not be available until January of 2016, meaning students that graduate within one year may be unemployable for up to six months or longer if the system undergoes another delay. She also mentions that once ICD-10 is announced, ICD-9 will be the primary system as healthcare facilities transition to ICD-10. Carol Buck also indicates that by law, schools need to be teaching what is classified as Industry Standard and schools moving toward ICD-10 too early may be premature.

Lakewood College announced in June 2014, that they will continue to teach ICD-9 in their Medical Coding Courses while gradually introducing ICD-10 course content.  Eventually, the Medical Coding Course will teach dual coding systems.

The Lakewood College Academic Dean Jim Gepperth says,“It's important for us as educators to stay current with what's happening in the field.  We rely on industry experts, school curriculum advisors and our own instructors among others to give us direction on when to make necessary changes in our courses.  We would be doing students a disservice to teach ICD10 only before it's been adopted in the industry.  So, our transition plan is to have course content that covers both coding systems until ICD10 is fully implemented as the norm.”

Those looking for a Medical Coding program are advised to watch the webinar ICD-10 Update: News from the Front found at http://elsevierwebinararchive.com/?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsR...