The development of maps between terminologies and classifications will not eliminate administrative coding or
the need for expertise in code selection. Fully automating the process of mapping from a reference terminology
to a classification system is challenging because of the inherent differences between them. The mapping
process is straightforward when the source terminology and the target match up. When more information is
needed to express the concept in the target a methodology to bring in contextual information to further refine
the map output must be defined.
Problems and diagnoses can be recorded in SNOMED CT in the EHR, while the cross-mappings to ICD-10-
CM can be used to assist with the reimbursement process. For example, The physician documents that the
patient has congestive heart failure using a lexicon linked to SNOMED CT in the problem list. When the HIM
coding professional accesses their application to concurrently code the patient’s diagnosis they would see the
congestive heart failure entry with the ICD-10-CM code which is mapped to this SNOMED CT concept. The
coder could then accept, reject or modify the code list to be used for reimbursement purposes.
Assignment: Create a Mapping Table
Part I: Read about ICD-10 construction in the AHIMA article:
http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_038084.hcsp?dDocName=bok1_038084
Part II: Go to https://imagic.nlm.nih.gov/imagic/code/map and familiarize yourself with the I-MAGIC (Interactive
Map-Assisted Generation of ICD Codes) tool. Create a table to map the following diagnoses from SNOMED to
ICD-10-CM. Keep in mind some of the codes may have a one-to-many relationship. Be sure to include any
accompanying ICD Notes within your table, for the following diagnoses listed below.
Acute Respiratory acidosis
Chronic otitis media; unspecified ear
Failure to thrive; child
Fracture of the thoracic spine; unspecified
Nontoxic diffuse goiter
Essential hypertension
Answer the following questions:
- Explain how Mapping is used by healthcare institutions in EHR environment.
- Offer an analysis of 3 Pros and 3 Cons of I-MAGIC.
Sample Solution
