Janay Zeck, HTL (ASCP), writes:

>>We're also nonprofit, so it's often difficult to get things that we need. I 
have a collection of ICD-9 codes from various sources, and the best ones I 
have have been pirated from neighboring hospitals. I'd love a full book, but 
it's just not economically feasible.<<

Yeah, sure. One 88305 case paid as a result of your having a code book, pays 
for the book. Only somebody with management training could fail to figure 
that out. Somebody's need to tie you in knots is greater than their need to 
get paid. That's Good Management.

The basic coding book is published by the AMA, though there are better ones. 
CD-ROM and Meditech versions are also available. 

By coincidence, I just spent a week as a locum tenens pathologist in a 
practice where the solo pathologist did the ICD-9 coding, the first time I'd 
done ICD-9 coding in close to ten years. There have been some changes, though 
minor ones. ICD-10 is still promised "in a few years" just as it was ten 
years ago. The system is a totally insane one, but it wastes time and delays 
or denies payment, so it does what the insurance companies and the government 
want it to do.

I was trained by a coding expert, and I need that training brought up to 
date. I'm going to tell the lab I was coding for that they need to bring in a 
coding consultant also.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN