What benefits are provided by workers compensation class codes?
What are workers' compensation class codes?
workers comp class codes (or Specific Class Codes) are utilized by modern insurance companies, including Medicare. To simplify issues of usage, they've been standardized to use the same meaning in every state. The most common code that's used is J00-J99 which means "diseases of the respiratory system"
It's important to see that it may also include diseases/illnesses/injuries of other organs as well. Using the example above, here's an illustration for pulmonary hypertension:
J96 - Pulmonary Hypertension due to left heart problems
These class codes were first implemented in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but were originally used only on paper claims until around 1997. Since that time, insurance companies (and Medicare) have now used these as a quick reference for possible claims and can be used as a checklist to see if something is possibly covered by your policy. Also, note these codes are not only used in some recoverable format claims but also electronically submitted claims. Exactly why this became important was that before electronic submissions took over (about 2001-2004), medical bills and prescriptions/treatment notes were coded using ICD9 codes (International Classification of Diseases: 9th Revision: Clinical Modification). This technique of coding continues to be the typical worldwide, even though class codes have now been devote place.
ICD9 codes are numerical based, but unfortunately there's only one special class code (A00.0- A99.99) which has provided limited value. As an example, in the event that you consider the word Pulmonary Hypertension in the J96 example above, it's this that it seems like when coded being an ICD9:
If one lookup workers comp class codes consider all possible reasons for a disease/illness/injury within its categories. It also contains modifiers to further define what kind of injury/disease/illness it really is and how it absolutely was acquired instead of just using a more generic description such as for instance "heart attack" or "lung cancer" ;.
CONCLUSION:
Thus, workers compensation class codes are 3-4 digits codes which identify the kind of work. Insurance companies use them to estimate the danger and finding the possible workers compensation insurance costs.