-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contains official 2005 ICD-9-CM coding guideline changes • The most widely used publication for teaching entry-level and experienced coders • Includes Central Office advice on ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS Authoritative Editorial Source The ICD-9-CM Coding Handbook is the only edition published in collaboration with the Central Office on ICD-9-CM of the American Hospital Association. The Central Office is an official industry body that participates in the editorial development, preliminary testing, and national committee and congressional hearings on ICD-9 and ICD-10 specifications and rules. Central Office staff are the nations experts on coding protocols and prepare two official publications in addition to these coding handbooks: AHA Coding Clinic for ICD-9-CM and ICD-9-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. The ICD-9-CM Coding Handbook helps coders understand the basic principles behind the classification system so they can apply the official coding advice provided by the Central Office publications. The ICD-9-CM Coding Handbook also continues the groundbreaking work of Faye Brown, a recognized coding expert who authored and contributed to the annual editorial of the ICD-9-CM Coding Handbooks for more than 25 years. Practical Teaching Resource The Handbook is designed to be used in conjunction with the three volumes of ICD-9-CM. Chapters 1-8 provide discussions of the format, conventions and current coding practices for ICD-9-CM as well as basic coding guidelines and introductory materials on the V and E supplementary classification codes. The remaining chapters work from the less complicated to those that are more difficult. Academic or in-service training faculty can easily arrange their course outlines around Handbook chapters. The Handbook provides more than 100 review exercises interspersed throughout the text and at the end of the chapters. These exercises describe additional information about a patients background or present condition, and allow coders to practice their coding skills on examples that closely resemble actual patient records. The answers to these exercises not only provide the correct codes and principal diagnoses, they also explain why a particular code is correct or what information is most important in a certain case. The Handbooks appendix contains Central Office official guidelines for coding and reporting. The Handbook also contains exclusive ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS information.