Anything that can happen to you that causes illness or injury has a code associated with it. You might think I am being facetious, but stay tuned for the proof in the pudding.
You know how after you see a healthcare provider, you then receive a bill for the services received? Well, what you might not know is that there is a lot of nuance that goes into creating an accurate bill. It’s a lengthy process to create the bill, correctly code your diagnosis, symptoms, and procedures.
This is where the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) comes into play. If you’re a medical biller, then you are all too familiar with these codes. There are thousands of them and each helps classify different medical diagnoses. ICD is currently on its 10th revision (ICD-10), including clinical modification (CM) for medical diagnoses.
Put it all together, you’ve got the most recent updated version ICD-10 CM. Let’s get into the role ICD-10 CM plays in healthcare billing as well as some of the most interesting codes available today.
The Role of ICD-10 Codes in Healthcare Billing
The ICD-10 CM publication has periodic revisions to reflect changes in the medical and healthcare field. Before this revision, the US had been using ICD-9. This was the primary source of diagnostic information since the 1970s. It wasn’t until 2015 that this was finally updated to ICD-10.
Since the healthcare industry is always changing, it makes sense that it would need updates after over thirty years. The content of ICD-9 had limited data and was restrictive for coding, and new versions include more specific definitions.
The organization has since decided to update these classifications and codes more frequently. Note that while globally we have started to use new codes through ICD-11, in the US we still refer to ICD-10.
If you look through the current revision, some of these diagnosis codes are hard to take seriously. It makes you wonder what outrageous circumstances caused the need for the reclassified codes. Some of these are also non-billable because they have even more specific classifications.
We took a look through the ICD-10 CM handbook and found some of the funniest codes that will make you laugh out loud.
What Are Some of the Funniest ICD-10 Codes?
Animals
W53 - Contact with rodent
W55.2 - Contact with cow
W55.21 - Bitten by cow
W55.41 - Bitten by pig
W56.12 - Struck by sea lion
W56.22XS - Struck by orca, sequela
W56.52XA - Struck by other fish, initial encounter
W59.22 - Struck by a turtle
W61.12XD - Struck by macaw, subsequent encounter
W61.39 - Other contact with chicken
W61.43 - Pecked by turkey
T63.443 - Toxic effect of venom of bees, assault
T63.621 - Toxic effect of contact with other jellyfish, accidental (unintentional)
ICD-10 Codes Specific to Transportation & Collision
V00.01 - Pedestrian on foot injured in collision with roller-skater
V00.151 - Fall from heelies
V80.1 - Animal-rider or occupant of animal-drawn vehicle injured in collision with pedestrian or animal
Y93.01 - Activity, walking, marching and hiking
V94.810 - Civilian watercraft involved in water transport accident with military watercraft
V96.00XA - Unspecified balloon accident injuring occupant, initial encounter
V97.33 - Sucked into jet engine
W22.02 - Walked into lamp post
W37.0XXA - Explosion of bicycle tire, initial encounter
ICD-10 Codes Including Hobbies
W27.4XXD - Contact with kitchen utensil, subsequent encounter
V91.07 - Burn due to water-skis on fire
Y92.017 - Garden or yard in single-family (private) house as the place of occurrence of the external cause
Y92.241 - Library as the place of occurrence of the external cause
Y92.253 - Opera house as the place of occurrence of the external cause
Y92.72 - Chicken coop as the place of occurrence of the external cause
Y93.02 - Activity, running
Y93.G3 - Activity involving cooking and baking
Y93.D - Activities involved arts and handcrafts
Y93.D1 - Activity, knitting and crocheting
V98.3 - Accident to, on or involving ski lift
ICD-10 Codes in Love & Relationships
W45.8XXA - Other foreign body or object entering through skin, initial encounter
R00.2 - Palpitations
R46.1 - Bizarre personal appearance
Z60.4 - Social exclusion and rejection
Z62.89 - Sibling rivalry
Z63.1 - Problems in relationship with in-laws
Interesting Seasonal ICD-10 Codes
L55.0 - Sunburn of first degree
W16.722 - Jumping or diving from boat striking bottom causing other injury
W17.3 - Fall into empty swimming pool
W39 - Discharge of firework
X03 - Exposure to controlled fire, not in building or structure
V00.211A - Fall from ice-skates, initial encounter
Other Weird ICD-10 Codes
How Do ICD-10 Codes Affect Medical Billing?
After looking through some of these strange ICD-10 codes, you might have a better understanding of how complex medical coding is. As well as how diverse patient care can be.
We don’t usually think about how detailed our diagnosis affects the billing process. But some codes aren’t billable, such as W59.22, Struck by turtle. Instead, they have more specific classifications including for initial and subsequent encounters.
Even the most outrageous codes have logic behind them. They make it easier to classify situations and certain instances have made them necessary to add. But these funny ICD-10 codes can make us laugh as we wonder what happened to cause those doctor visits.
