You may hear from your physicians or see on your chart a very odd number series next to your diagnosis.
For example, in August I altered the original picture here to add 714.30 which is the ICD code for systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
ICD stands for the International Classification of Diseases.
Essentially what ICD does is make it easier to communicate diagnoses across healthcare systems and between healthcare professionals.
The newest version is ICD-10, which some places are just finally implementing, is slightly different in that it is more specific for some illnesses and injuries like an ear infection. Physicians now have to list a lot more information including which ear, if it’s chronic, etc.
And, with that, some codes have been updated. Above you have 714.30 for SJIA. M08.20 is the new code, however, and it is much more specific to SJIA/Still’s. The old 714.30 was very vague, which M08.20 is only SJIA/Still’s patients.
So, if you see new weird codes on your billing statements, it’s likely because the CDC forced everyone to finally adopt ICD-10 in October 2015.