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ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee

Recognizing the ICD-9-CM as a dynamic statistical tool that must be flexible to meet expanding classification needs, the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee was created as a forum for proposals to update ICD-9-CM. A representative from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and one from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) co-chair the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee meetings. Responsibility for maintenance of the ICD-9-CM is divided between the two agencies, with classification of diagnoses (volumes 1 and 2) by NCHS and of procedures (volume 3) by CMS.

Although the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee is a Federal Committee, suggestions for modifications come from both the public and private sectors. Interested parties must submit proposals for modification prior to a scheduled meeting.

Submission of Proposals

NOTE: Beginning with the September 2011 ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting only proposals for new codes/revisions for a new disease/new technology procedure will be accepted for ICD-9-CM. All other proposals must be submitted as changes to ICD-10-CM/PCS. Please see information about the partial freeze of these two classifications at the bottom of this page.

Proposals for a new code should include:

Description of the code(s)/change(s) being requested
Rationale for why the new code/change is needed (including clinical relevancy)
Supporting clinical references and literature should also be submitted.

Proposals should be consistent with the structure and conventions of the classification.

For proposal samples, see proposal documents from previous meetings in Summary and Proposals.

For proposal submission deadline, see Upcoming Meeting.

Once proposals are reviewed all requestors will be contacted as to whether the proposal has been approved for presentation at the Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting or not.

Public Meetings

The ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee meetings are open to the public and held at CMS headquarters in Baltimore, MD.
Registration is required by CMS using their meeting registration website. Registration opens approximately one month prior to the meeting.
Approved proposals are presented and comments are encouraged both at the meetings and in writing. No decisions are made at the meetings. Recommendations and comments are carefully reviewed and evaluated, once the comment period has closed, before final decisions are made.
The ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee’s role is advisory. All final decisions are made by the Director of NCHS and the Administrator of CMS. Final decisions are made at the end of the year and become effective October 1 of the following year.
Official code revision packages, which are referred to as addenda, are available from this website. Procedure addenda is available from the CMS website.

Meeting Materials

The tentative agenda for the upcoming meeting will be posted here approximately one month prior to the meeting.
Electronic copies of meeting materials (proposals and other handouts) are posted on this website just prior to the meeting to allow participants to download them. No paper copies of these materials are available at the meeting.
The summary is posted shortly following the meeting.
The summary for the most recent meeting includes the deadline for written comments, scheduled dates for the next meeting, deadline for receipt of modification proposals, and mailing/e-mail addresses to send either modification proposals or comments on proposals.

Partial Freeze of Revisions to ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM/PCS

October 1, 2011 is the last major update of ICD-9-CM. Any further revisions to ICD-9-CM will only be for a new disease and/or a procedure representing new technology. Revisions will be posted on this website as addenda (revisions to procedures are posted on the CMS website).
After October 1, 2011 there will be no further release of ICD-9-CM on CD-ROM.
October 1, 2011 is the last major update of ICD-10-CM/PCS until October 1, 2014.
Between October 1, 2011 and October 1, 2014 revisions to ICD-10-CM/PCS will be for new diseases/new technology procedures, and any minor revisions to correct reported errors in these classifications.
Regular (at least annual) updates to ICD-10-CM/PCS will resume on October 1, 2014.
ICD-10-CM/PCS, on CD-ROM will be released on October 1, 2012.
The partial freeze was announced at the ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting on September 15-16, 2010. See CMS website for more information.

Upcoming Meeting

September 19-20, 2012

Deadline for receipt of topics: July 19, 2012

Summary and Proposals

March 5, 2012

September 14, 2011

Summary [PDF - 88 KB] Note: This document was re-posted, changes are on page 2, bullet 2, bolded. If you downloaded the previous document you will need to download this updated document.
Proposal [PDF - 140 KB] Note: This document was re-posted, if you downloaded the previous document you will need to download this updated document.
Audio of Meeting
Deadline for receipt of comments: November 18, 2011