Information has been released recently regarding discrepancies between the DSM 5 and the ICD 10. Proper accommodations have been made and put into place but let’s dive into what those discrepancies were and what they mean.
It would only be appropriate to begin things first with what exactly the DSM 5 and the ICD 10 are and the purposes they serve. DSM stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The “5” refers to the edition they are on. The first DSM came about in 1952 and from then on, they have added, dropped and modified each edition to come up with each current manual. This is most commonly used by psychologists and psychiatrists; this is the big book that entails symptoms and the proper information to assess Mental Disorders and provides a guide on making the proper diagnosis. The DSM does not include treatment methods, but it is the first step in patient care and one of the most crucial.
Now on to the ICD 10, more technically ICD-10-CM stands for International Classification of Diseases tenth revision Clinical Modification. The ICD is implemented through HIPAA and is used by physicians and many other healthcare providers to record treatments, symptoms, procedures and diagnoses jointly with hospital care. HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The ICD is used to keep track of all the statistical aspects such as mortality rates, disease burden, billings, and outcomes.
Though it may seem concerning that discrepancies arose, rest assured The American Psychiatric Association quickly resolved said issues. A new list of codes has been provided to all DSM 5 users. The technical issues were regarding Trichotillomania and Kleptomania. While providing updated information they took the opportunity to also make changes to codes regarding Neurocognitive Disorders with the specifier “with behavioral disturbance”. These changes were more specifically made for insurance companies to better classify disorders and cover them.
So, what does this mean to commonfolk like us? Luckily, not much! As individuals this does not directly affect us. These discrepancies are more so to do with HIPAA and The American Psychiatric Association. It is however a good thing that they are expanding on what health insurance will cover in the mental health realm as well as it is ensuring that physicians are given more appropriate codes to use. Done the line these modifications will be made permanent in the next ICD and DSMs to come.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6913847/
https://www.apaservices.org/practice/reimbursement/icd-diagnostic/code-discrepancies