What is the ICD-10-CM used for?

The ICD-10-CM, which stands for the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification, is specifically designed for coding and classifying diagnoses and diseases. This system is essential in healthcare for accurately documenting patient conditions, which in turn facilitates the appropriate billing and reimbursement processes. It is used by healthcare providers to ensure that diagnoses are communicated clearly for statistical, administrative, and clinical purposes.

By standardizing the identification and classification of diseases, ICD-10-CM enables consistency in reporting and monitoring health trends, ensuring that health records accurately reflect patient care. This coding system is crucial for healthcare research, public health monitoring, and the quality assurance of treatments administered to patients. Other functions such as managing appointments, documenting expenses, or creating treatment plans are essential tasks but do not fall under the specific purpose of ICD-10-CM, which is fundamentally focused on diagnosis classification.