Summary
Technological development integrated various applications into the healthcare providence and nursing practice to make operations more efficient. Indeed, services that help quickly access crucial data, measure, track, and analyze the processes are valuable for proper differential diagnosis, treatment, and disease management (Warwick et al., 2020). This paper aims to critically appraise the medical application “ICD10 Consult” and assess how it improves healthcare providers’ work and clinical decision-making.
Name and Author
The medical application selected for a critical appraisal is called ICD10 Consult and is available for most modern mobile devices, desktops, and tablets. The author is Evan Schoenberg, who developed various apps for healthcare assistance and coding. The service is maintained by the creator and operational systems of devices to which ICD10 Consult was downloaded. The application also updates its version every time the ICD10-CM is renewed, and the 2022nd edition of codes, effective from October 1, 2021, has already been uploaded (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2021). App Store (2021) states that “The app draws the complete code database directly from the data files available at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).” Consequently, ICD10 Consult is a trustworthy service for users who need to search the relevant codes quickly.
Endorsement, Operation, and Aesthetics
ICD10 Consult provides access to the recent ICD10-CM databases with convenient search and comment tools, and it does not require a governmental agency or administration’s license to retrieve publicly available information. CMS allows application developers to load its data from the website and display it elsewhere, and the relevance of the contents can be checked by a separate search at CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2021). ICD10 Consult is developed for mobile platforms where a convenient search can be performed and the results saved as notes or comments. The application is not web-based, and even the desktop version requires downloading the service rather than opening it inside a browser. ICD10 Consult is relatively easy to work with, and navigation allows users to scroll all databases or use a search bar for quicker access to the codes (App Store, 2021). The application can be used without instructions because its aesthetics are simple, and the interface is similar to an online library or catalog. It is beneficial for ICD10 Consult because the users might be of different ages and devices’ use skills.
Purpose and Clinical Decision Making
ICD10 Consult’s purpose is instant access to all recent ICD10 codes necessary for differential diagnosis, studying diseases, and clarifying the symptoms. ICD10 is an international classification system created and maintained for diagnostic and statistical purposes (Khera, Dorsey, & Krumholz, 2018). The application’s primary users are physicians and healthcare providers for whom the codes are required for clinical decision-making. Indeed, the quickly found results, comments, and notes for further use and the convenience of accessing ICD10 Consult can help choose the proper diagnosis, confirm specific symptoms, or study the epidemiological statistics.
Safety, Privacy, and Security
Although ICD10 Consult is an application for healthcare providers, a potential for patient harm exists if physicians mistakenly type the code or use the service as the only evidence for stating the final diagnosis. People searching for the symptoms through the application can hurt themselves by misinterpreting the results and reaching the incorrect physicians or treatment. The application has a privacy statement and policies with a clear explanation that the application tracks the identification information, usage, and diagnostic data. ICD10 Consult does not collect records that require encryption or could be shared with third parties (App Store, 2021). The users would be notified in the event of a breach or changes in the privacy policies because it is the requirement of distribution platforms such as AppStore or Google Play.
User, Distribution, Credibility, and Relevance
ICD10 Consult is developed for healthcare providers as their practice includes checking the international codes, comparing the symptoms, and being aware of all changes. It can be accessed and downloaded from several internationally available application stores; therefore, it is designed for wide distribution. ICD10 codes are verified by World Health Organization and used for statistics tracking, such as outcomes, mortality, or disease burden; thus, the ICD10 Consult is relevant for general use (Khera et al., 2018). The application sources information from CMS’s publicly available databases and is considered credible (App Store, 2021). The developers timely upload the ICD10-CM updates published at official CMS/CDC websites and send notifications to the users to upgrade the application to access the recent information.
ICD10 Consult can be used by various healthcare providers in different clinical settings due to the universal nature of the information the application stores and manages. For instance, a physician who works at an acute care hospital with adult patients could frequently utilize the service on different occasions. If a 35-years old male with continuous severe headaches reaches the emergency room, a differential diagnosis might require quick clarification with the codes. A patient’s history of present illness includes dizziness, difficulty concentrating, blurry vision, and a recent accident with hitting the head at a gym. Based on this information, a physician will perform a differential diagnosis, and with the ICD10 Consult, they will instantly clarify the symptoms and possible diseases instead of trying to remember the materials from studies or practice (App Store, 2021). Consequently, opening the application, selecting the specification, and searching by name or patient’s conditions would provide a physician with evidence-based information critical for clinical decision-making.
ICD10 Consult can be implemented right during the assessment and differential diagnosis and impact the scenario as the results will help understand if immediate disease management is necessary. Moreover, the application’s interface includes the option to leave notes or save the description of the ICD10 coded line for future exploration (App Store, 2021). In the scenario with headache, brain injury can be identified through searching by symptoms “blurry vision” or “difficulty concentrating.” Also, opening the S00-T88 segment related to the injuries or checking the diseases coded between S00 and S09 can be quickly and effectively performed throughout the application.
Injuries to the head require cautious assessment, and clinical decision-making related to diagnosis must be evidence-based to avoid the severe consequences or worsening of a patient’s conditions. The research conducted among patients with traumatic brain injury and physicians who used coding for differential diagnosis confirmed the benefit of reaching the ICD10 database (Warwick et al., 2020). Indeed, Warwick et al. (2020) claim that the “positive predictive value of ICD-10-CM codes included in a traumatic brain injury (TBI) surveillance definition was high” (p. 1768). Consequently, physicians who can access the most recent information through their mobile devices and quickly submit or clarify the diagnosis would work more efficiently and make better clinical decisions.
Modern clinical practice includes using various mobile and web services that help maintain operations and enhance healthcare providence and tracking. ICD10 Consult is the application that allows physicians, administrators, and nurses to quickly access the ICD10 database, search codes by numbers or symptoms, and save the records for further analysis. The app is helpful in the differential diagnosis as it allows to get to the validated information quickly and profoundly impacts clinical decision making.
References
App Store. (2021). ICD10 Consult.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2021). 2021 ICD-10-CM.
Khera, R., Dorsey, K. B., & Krumholz, H. M. (2018). Transition to the ICD-10 in the United States: an emerging data chasm. Jama, 320(2), 133-134.
Warwick, J., Slavova, S., Bush, J., & Costich, J. (2020). Validation of ICD-10-CM surveillance codes for traumatic brain injury inpatient hospitalizations.Brain Injury, 34(13-14), 1763-1770.