Behavioral health and addiction treatment providers face many complexities. Clients often present with a variety of concurrent conditions. Treatment plans may involve multiple providers recommending various long-term solutions. This can also make documentation and billing more complex for behavioral health and addiction treatment.
Additional complications come from the use of multiple documentation codes. This primarily includes ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision) and DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition).
Use of Different Diagnostic Codes
ICD-10 was developed by the World Health Organization and is used by member states across the globe. The United States uses a modified version of ICD-10 to report and track diseases. Updating from ICD-9 to ICD-10, completed in 2015, was required for all U.S. entities under HIPAA rules.
While ICD-10 is a worldwide standard, DSM-V was created by the American Psychiatric Association. Primarily used among mental and behavioral health providers, DSM-V provides standard criteria for classifying mental disorders. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, however, still requires that behavioral health providers use ICD-10 designations to bill for services.
There is some overlap between the DSM-V and ICD-10, but because of their intended uses, and because ICD-10 is intended to be more comprehensive, many differences exist. For example, researchers have found discrepancies between the two systems when diagnosing mild and moderate cases of alcohol use disorder. For severe forms of alcoholism, the ICD-10 and DSM-V are more compatible.
How Diagnostic Codes Work in an EHR
The important thing to remember is that DSM-V helps clinicians diagnose behavioral health issues more accurately. In contrast, ICD-10 helps billing staff code and bill more accurately.
Because of these differences, a behavioral health provider’s EHR system should incorporate both types of coding. The two systems should coexist to help both clinicians and administrative staff.
The right EHR should:
Provide a library of all DSM-V categories and codes in an easy-to-search format
Help clinicians easily find diagnostic criteria to help create a treatment plan
Help users create goals and interventions appropriate for the diagnosis
Cross-reference DSM-V codes with the appropriate ICD-10 code
How does BestNotes measure up?
BestNotes EHR is designed to streamline your behavioral health and addiction treatment practice for the best patient outcomes and more efficient billing. BestNotes EHR solutions make it easier than ever for clinicians to create custom treatment plans.
With BestNotes, clinicians can:
Auto-populate criteria for a diagnosis and incorporate it into a treatment plan
Auto-populate customizable goals, objectives, and interventions based on the diagnostic criteria
Match DSM-V diagnostic codes with the corresponding ICD-10 code for easier billing
BestNotes EHR includes a list of diagnostic criteria to choose from. Once those criteria are selected and a diagnosis is picked, then BestNotes EHR software will auto-generate a list of goals, objective and interventions. Clinicians also have the option to enter custom goals/objectives/interventions and other notes in the patient’s own words.
Streamline diagnosis, treatment, and billing today
Ready to improve patient outcomes and make your practice more efficient? BestNotes EHR is designed specifically for addiction treatment and other behavioral health providers. Contact us today to learn more and see a free demo!