10 amusing ICD-10 codes doctors just might need this Thanksgiving

If you work in healthcare, you know all about — or should know about — the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes. If you’re fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with ICD-10, here’s a little background: As of last month, all healthcare providers had to start using the ICD-10 diagnostic code set to file claims with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.

[ Related: Health IT glossary ]

You might think moving from ICD-9 to ICD-10 isn’t be a big deal. After all, it’s just one little numerical step, right? Wrong. The change represents an exponential increase, because ICD-9 has about a fifth of the codes of ICD-10. Due to complexities, doctors and other healthcare pros had to be trained to select the correct codes, and healthcare organizations had to do extensive internal and external testing.

[ Related: Hospitals flip the ICD-10 switch, adding 68,000 ways to tell you’re sick ]

Now less than two months later, many doctors are likely still struggling with the classifications. There really isn’t much that’s funny about ICD-10, but PatientKeeper, a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of healthcare applications for physicians, found a little holiday humor in the classifications. In its infographic below, the company identifies 10 actual diagnosis codes that are surprisingly appropriate for potential Thanksgiving Day mishaps.

• Pecked by a turkey? There’s an ICD-10 code for that.
• Injured in a touch football game? There’s a code for that, too.
• Crushed, pushed or stepped on by aggressive Black Friday shoppers? You guessed it. An appropriate ICD-10 code exists.

Check out all 10 holiday-appropriate ICD-10 classifications below. And, speaking for physicians and emergency room workers everywhere, be careful out there.