Buyers Guide To Mobile ICD-10 Apps

As ICD-10 draws ever closer, coders, physicians and the IT folks who support them are wondering how they will locate ICD-10 codes when the time comes.

Already we’re seeing a raft of new smartphone apps promising to search through nearly 70,000 new code descriptions quickly enough to deliver the correct one right at the point of care. But before you shop, there are a number of features you may want to look for and, sometimes, look out for.

An ICD-9-to-ICD-10-and-back-again conversion feature that matches up the broader ICD-9 codes with the more specific and numerous ICD-10-appropriate codes sounds like a must-have — and it is, as long as you keep in mind one caveat. ICD-9 and ICD-10 are different code sets, as Michael Palantoni, product innovation manager at athenahealth, points out. There may be some cases where the mappings don’t align. This is particularly true in the OB-GYN code set, for example. In ICD-9 the diagnoses were divided into pre- or post-partum. In ICD-10 codes are based on trimesters. The implication here is that if you over-rely on mapping, you may find yourself using an incorrect code or one that doesn’t represent the reality.

Look for apps that include dynamic filtering to help narrow down the code set. Let’s say you search for a particular term, such as a “tibia fracture.” There are, according to Palantoni, about 369 tibia fracture ICD-10 codes. One might call that a usability challenge. With the aid of dynamic filtering the user is prompted to specify which area of coding applies and thus by selecting attributes — fracture type, healing type variable, encounter type — you can more quickly narrow down the correct code set.

Another important feature is a good index. If you’re doing a keyword search and a code has 15 different relationships, you want to be able to find all of them.

Trial and error may be the best advice for deciding which of these applications is best suited for you. Please note that while most of the Android-available mobile ICD-10 apps have received user ratings — we have only included those with a 4-star or higher rating — inexplicably, many of the iPhone apps currently available are not rated.

Dual iPhone or Android apps

ICD 10 Lite 2012: Available since last July, ICD-10 Lite from iPremiumApps is both an Apple and Android best-seller with a 4-star-out-of-5 user rating. The diagnosis codes are all searchable by ICD-10 or traditional categories. Users can view the diagnosis and full text of its standard ICD-9 long description. 4 stars. Free.

ICD 10 (With 2013 CM and PCS): TVN Labs offers such a deal, and it nearly tops the Apple and Android list with a whopping Android user rating for its ICD 10 (With 2013 CM and PCS). The app includes the latest 2013 updates. Offline access, ability to email articles, print bookmarks and code description list, landscape or portrait mode and free updates. 4.7 stars. $.99.

Android apps

Disease Codes ICD-10: This lookup tool from Trofo Systems (pictured at left) allows users to query by typing the disease name or code. The app can be fully installed on an Android smartphone using just under 1MB of space, thereby enabling offline use. This app does not offer ICD-9 to ICD-10 conversion capabilities. 4.1 stars. Free.

ICD-10 Professional: Getting one of the highest ratings for ICD-10 Android apps is AppHouse Software’s ICD10 Professional. The app does not offer an ICD-9 to ICD-10 lookup converter, but it is small enough to download and use offline. Users can search by code or diagnosis, browse by category or subcategory for a quick drill down to a specific condition. 4.6 stars. Price for this app is all of $1.99.

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch applications

ICD 10 Codes: Black-Night Labs’ app allows users to search codes by description or browse codes by chapter, section and code groups. Users can browse or search for more than 69,000 ICD-10 codes. 4 stars. $4.99.

ICD-9 and ICD–10 Helper: Ringful’s tool offers critical keyword search capabilities and converts between ICD-9 and ICD-10 code symptoms. Code translation uses the official matching algorithms published by CMS. App provides a calculator-like side screen that is dedicated to ICD code search and mapping. 3 stars. $19.99.

ICD Lite (9, 10, & HCPCS) 2013: This app, by Eslam Farhat, has codes searchable and browsable by traditional categories. Search by code description through the entire ICD-10 and ICD-9 coding. Images within the list indicate whether a code is specific or non-specific. Tap to view diagnosis and full text. Auto suggest capability for quicker searches. 4 stars. Free.

ICD 10 HD 2013: Another Eslam Farhat app, this one offers complete details of ICD-10, such as include, exclude, abbreviations and DRG, plus mapping diagnosis and procedures to equivalent ICD-9 codes. Searchable within any list of codes by code number, diagnosis and full text of long descriptions. Distinguish specific from non-specific codes, tap on a non-specific code to view its specific children. Navigate to the parent to compare one specific diagnosis to another. Airprint capable. 4 stars. $1.99.

Non-rated iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch applications

ICD-10 on the Go Medical Codes. Believe it or not, this is one of the pricier ICD-10 smartphone apps. From VLR Labs, this app offers the complete ICD-10-CM codes database, updated this year. Search as you type feature for faster results. Tag favorites and share codes through e-mails. Not rated. $4.99.

ICD-10 Mobile. From SymSoft, this app features fast look ahead that lets users search by diagnosis, symptom, name description or details. Updated to 2014. Tag favorite codes, share codes via e-mail, print codes via Airprint, browse codes by chapters and subgroups. Not rated. $3.99.

AHIMA’s ICD-10 – CM Flash Cards. This is the mobile version of the AHIMA desktop software. Flash Cards help users become familiar with ICD-10 terminology, structure and format of the new code set. Targeted at coders, the flash cards cover ICD-10 CM conventions, general coding guidelines, chapter-specific coding guidelines. Not rated. $7.99.

ICD 9-10: A transition application from MTBC that helps users convert ICD-9 to ICD-10. The app includes all ICD-9 codes and their respective ICD-10 codes. One step conversion, view all descriptions, view all available ICD-10 alternatives against each ICD-9 code and vice versa. Not rated. Free.

ICD-10 Doc Talk: Precyse Solutions puts an ICD-10 curriculum on your iPhone. Users can listen to specialty-specific audio webinars designed to provide an overview of the impact of ICD-10 on each specialty, with a focus on documentation requirements for each disease. Each session is 10 to 15 minutes in length. Targeted at doctors, physician assistants and clinical documentation improvement specialists/nurses. Not rated. Free.

Find-A-Code: The eponymously-named app from Find-A-Code LLC houses complete ICD-10 CM, PCS, ICD-9-CM and 9-v3 code sets that include GEMS (General Equivalency Mappings) between ICD-10 and ICD-9. Search by code number or keyword. Browse code hierarchy, add codes to your custom bookmark list. Free auto updates. Internet connection required for use. Not Rated. Free.

Key points of difference

Expect more companies to bring new ICD-10 tools to market in the coming months and after the Oct. 1, 2014 compliance deadline, when everyone must use the new codes.

Regardless of platform or rating, the key differentiators will likely be the ability to convert from ICD-9 codes to ICD-10, as well as auto suggest and search for those times when you don’t already know the ICD-9 code.

Tom Guiannulli, MD, chief medical information officer for Kareo Healthcare, says he may understate the impact of ICD-10 when he says the new coding system will be “hard to memorize,” but he adds coders are not likely to haul around a textbook of the codes either.

Not when they can load up a smartphone app and pick from a bevy of free ones at that.

Better yet, dry-run a few of them. There may not be just one tool that serves all your needs well, so it might not hurt to have a preference for learning the codes ahead of time, another for converting from ICD-9 to ICD-10, and one for browsing by category and sub-category.

The obvious beauty of free and low-cost options is that you can choose which ones your physicians and coders might find most appealing, give them a try and, from there, stick with it or test another.

Just know that some “free” apps are good, but there are also vendors that offer the ICD-10 code lookups for free at first, but once they have you hooked they require a fee to continue. And some free apps also demand the user to go to the web site and buy another widget or two to continue using the original application.

Also be aware that oftentimes the free apps (which include many of the iPhone and Android apps) use pop-up ads as their business model, which can be distracting and in some cases can even obstruct the use of the touch screen.

And that ICD-10 game

Are You Prepared? From Ume Software, the name is the game and the question of the day for this ICD-10 app that can help players prepare for the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 and you can play it over and over again until you’ve memorized as many of the 70,000 codes as possible. Players can even share with Facebook friends — but we feel compelled to warn that unless they’re in healthcare they may not find the game terribly amusing. Not rated. Free.

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