This clear, easy-to-use text is your key to ICD-9-CM coding success, offering everything you need to understand and apply the official codes of the ICD-9-CM. You"ll find detailed background information on the evolution and importance of medical coding, as well as reliable, straightforward guidelines for each of the coding classifications you"ll use in practice. Information on body systems and common drugs and conditions helps you understand treatment concepts as you translate them into codes. Realistic examples demonstrate the coding process, while practical exercises within each chapter test your comprehension and reinforce coding principles.A systematic approach outlines basic concepts and walks you through the complete coding process using all three volumes of the ICD-9-CM. A full-color design makes anatomy and physiology stand out and provides visual reinforcement of key content.ICD-9-CM guidelines open each coding chapter, with examples that clearly demonstrate their real-world applications.Learning objectives help you study more effectively.Abbreviations are clearly defined at the beginning of each chapter for quick reference.Problem-solving exercises throughout each chapter provide valuable practice using key coding principles as you learn them. Illustrations and overviews of anatomy, physiology, and related disease conditions in each coding chapter help you better visualize and understand what the codes represent. A glossary at the end of each chapter helps you quickly find the definitions for key terms. Direct references to the AHA"s Coding Clinic for ICD-9-CM verify accuracy and point you to additional sources of reliable information. A chapter on the medical record identifies the components of patient records essential to your coding responsibilities.Information on the evolution of coding enhances your understanding of the current industry.Coverage of common medications used to treat specific disorders familiarizes you with the drug names you"ll encounter in medical records and can help in clarifying a diagnosis with the physician.A separate chapter on reimbursement provides complete coverage of this essential topic. A chapter on outpatient coding helps you recognize how it differs from inpatient diagnosis and procedure coding.Expanded coverage of the format and coding conventions of each section of the ICD-9-CM helps you quickly locate the information you need for proper code assignment.The complications chapter is reorganized and expanded to address conditions that can affect multiple body systems and require codes from more than one area of ICD-9-CM.Updated coverage and additional examples of the new MS-DRG system are incorporated throughout the text.Information on ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS features new 2007 information to help prepare you for the next revision of the ICD code set.