When Americans go to the doctor, there’s a medical code that determines how their treatment gets billed. Getting treated for urban rabies? Well, that’s distinct from woods-based sylvatic rabies, and the invoice will reflect that. Until today, the system in the US was the same one they used in the 1970s. But there’s a new catalogue of ailments, and some of it is weird as hell.
Doctors in the US will now bill according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The updated code is an exhaustive malady roadmap for medical billing. Some of it is the same as the old code — a horrifying array of fevers and motorcycle collision injuries. But now there are 68,000 new and oddly specific ways to describe how screwed your health is.
Here are some of the strangest entires in ICD-10:
V97.33XD Sucked into jet engine, subsequent encounter
Imagine getting sucked into a jet engine and surviving, only to be sucked into a jet engine again. Get off the tarmac already. [Update: Commenters pointed out that “subsequent encounter” means it’s the second time a doctor saw a patient, which makes a LOT more sense.]
W16.221A Fall in (into) bucket of water causing drowning and submersion, initial encounter
W16.221D Fall in (into) bucket of water causing drowning and submersion, subsequent encounter
W16.221S Fall in (into) bucket of water causing drowning and submersion, sequela
Not sure how you’d fall into a bucket in the first place, let alone repeatedly, but let’s assume this is a circus-based injury?
W62.0XXA Contact with nonvenomous frogs, initial encounter
V95.40XA Unspecified spacecraft accident injuring occupant, initial encounter
Nothing worse than an unspecific spacecraft accident. Much more annoying than specific ones.
W61.11Xa Bitten by macaw, initial encounter
W61.11XD Bitten by macaw, subsequent encounter
W61.11XS Bitten by macaw, sequela
W61.62XA Struck by duck, initial encounter
W61.62XD Struck by duck, subsequent encounter
W61.62XS Struck by duck, sequela
You should leave the petting zoo at this point.
V98.2XXA Accident to, on or involving ice yacht, initial encounter
R46.1 Bizarre personal appearance
Rude.
R46.0 Very low level of personal hygiene
Ruder.
Z63.1 Problems in relationship with in-laws
A66.8 Latent yaws
Z62.1 Parental overprotection
Z62.6 Inappropriate (excessive) parental pressure
T71.231D Asphyxiation due to being trapped in a (discarded) refrigerator, accidental, subsequent encounter
ICD-10 does a terrific job of cornering the “recurring nightmare horror plot” genre of injury.
Z99.89 Dependence on other enabling machines and devices
Y93.C1 Activity, computer keyboarding
Finally, proof blogging is hazardous.
A81.81 Kuru
This is a disease most often found in cannibals.
V91.07 Burn due to water-skies on fire
Oh no.
[CNN]
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