The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services changed thousands of new ICD-10-CM codes, including 14 codes related to mental health, on Oct. 1, 2016. While fiscal year code changes are not uncommon due to a continued need for new or revised codes, 2016's significant update was due in large part to a code freeze that had been in effect for several years.
Most of the changes to the mental health codes related to new or additional specifiers that occurred after the decimal point of the parent code. For example, obsessive-compulsive disorder changed from F42 to F42.3. This new specification allows for more accurate diagnostic recording, which is of interest to third party payers and is important for psychologists to include in order to receive reimbursement. Other codes, such as binge-eating disorder, include additional specifications as they go from including one decimal point (i.e., F50.8) to two (F50.81).
Two codes — excoriation (skin-picking) disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder — changed from L and N codes respectively to F codes. This is good news for psychologists, as billing under L or N codes (physical health disorders chapters in ICD-10-CM) could lead to denials — something much less likely to happen when billing with an F code (mental health chapter).
The chart below lists the original and new codes for the mental health disorders affected. Some minor changes to these codes occurred in subsequent years, so this chart was updated April 17, 2019. Users of DSM-5 may wish to download the September 2016 coding update (PDF, 4.3MB)opens in new window from the American Psychiatric Association. (Chrome or Firefox are recommended for this download).