Expect Bizarre Questions from Your Doctor

"Were you hit by a falling kayak? Injured while baking, vacuuming or spending too much time in a deep freeze? Encountered a lamppost for the second time? Were you bitten by a turkey? Never fear, the ICD-10 is here," writes Grace Marie Turner and Tyler Hartsfield.

Starting this October, your doctor will be required to record precisely whether you were bitten or struck by a parrot, macaw, chicken, turkey, or any "other psittacines," or encountered any one of 140,000 other specific medical conditions, injuries or diseases.

For 30 years, the U.S. has used the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9), but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is requiring virtually all hospitals, laboratories and medical offices to convert to the more complex ICD-10 coding system on Oct. 1. ...

The ICD-9 has about 17,000 codes, while the new ICD-10 will have more than 140,000. These cumbersome new administrative responsibilities will take away from the time doctors can spend with their patients. ...

Legislation is before the House and the Senate to block the implementation of ICD-10 and give small and medium-size practices a much-needed reprieve from yet another bureaucratic nightmare.

No votes have been scheduled, but the clock is ticking for doctors.