Division of Federal Employees' Compensation (DFEC)
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the standard diagnostic tool for health management and clinical purposes and is used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures. On October 1, 2015, the ICD-9 code sets will be replaced by ICD-10 codes. The transition to ICD-10 is coordinated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is mandatory throughout the country.
ICD-10 codes are alpha-numeric and have different format than ICD-9 codes, thus, providing more detailed information. There are also approximately 68,000 ICD-10 codes, far more than currently available with ICD-9. The benefits of using ICD-10 code sets are:
- Contains an increased number of codes and categories
- Provides more detail and clearer clinical descriptions
- Allows greater accuracy for reporting patient's diagnosis
The Division of Federal Employees' Compensation has commenced work on updating its IT systems to prepare for the ICD-10 transition in time. All data extracts that are routinely sent electronically to employing agencies will be modified for this transition. In addition, all cases created after October 1, 2015 will use ICD-10 codes to designate accepted conditions, and claim examiners will only add ICD-10 codes to the system after that date.
Additional guidance is available in FECA Circular No. 16-01.