Structured Diagnoses (ICD-10 codes)

The Structured Diagnoses feature allows you to classify all diagnoses as specific ICD-10 medical billing codes. This guide outlines the how to enable ICD-10 codes within ALIS, the automated conversion process, and the steps required to manually update any remaining unstructured resident diagnoses.

Structured Diagnoses FAQs

What are ICD-10 codes? These are diagnoses classified within a global medical classification list. ICD stands for 'International Classification of Diseases'. 

What are the codes used for? These are useful for some organizations who process medical insurance for residents or require them on Physician Orders documents for medical lab work. Perhaps you work with a partner (perhaps Home Health or Hospice) that requires the ICD-10 codes. We also utilize these codes for some pharmacy integrations and connections to Skilled Nursing tools.

How does using ICD-10 codes help residents and staff? By converting many diagnoses to their appropriate code automatically and making it easy for you to search for the codes you need, your team can export the precise diagnoses for all residents whenever they are required.

Enable ICD-10 codes in ALIS

ICD-10 codes are enabled per community. You must have specific security role permissions to access settings and enable the feature. Contact your Account Manager or our ALIS Customer Success Team for assistance.

Follow these steps to turn on the feature and convert your resident diagnoses:

1. Navigate to to Settings > Resident Settings. Make sure you have the correct community selected at the top right dropdown menu. 
2. In the General Settings section > Diagnoses, can click the Switch to ICD-10 Codes button.
3. Read the pop-up and click Convert. 

Replace 'Unstructured Diagnoses' with ICD-10 codes

Enabling the ICD-10 settings triggers an automated conversion process on existing resident diagnoses to minimize manual effort. The automatic conversion is most effective when diagnoses were previously entered with accurate, standard medical terminology. Diagnoses containing unusual text or typos may require manual correction. 

If diagnoses were already added to ALIS prior to the conversion, you will want to make sure all diagnoses are corrected to reflect the ICD-10 code format, which can be done simply through the use of the Health Profile report. 

Follow these steps to replace existing unstructured diagnoses:

1. Go to Reports > Resident Reports > Health Profile.
2. In the Health Profile Report, review filters as needed and click Refresh.
3. The largest column on this table displays all existing Primary Diagnoses on residents' profiles. To update these, click the Replace Unstructured Diagnoses button above the table to the left.
4. On the next Replace Unstructured Diagnoses page, you will see any diagnoses that are not coded displaying in red. The Status toggle at the top of the page will default to showing only residents who have diagnoses listed on their profile that are missing the ICD-10 code.  
5. To convert a resident's diagnoses, click the Update button to the right of their row.
6. This opens a pop-up with the non-coded entries. Click the small X next to the red non-coded entry to delete. Then, type into the righthand field to search for the accurate replacement.
7. Click the Save button at the bottom right, and complete updating for each resident until there are no more non-coded diagnoses for any residents. 

Add structured diagnoses on resident profiles

When ICD-10 codes are enabled, you will now have a new experience for adding structured diagnoses. The Primary Diagnosis or Secondary Diagnosis fields will now contain a list of options for you to choose from, and there will no longer be the option to free-form type. 

Follow these steps to add structured diagnoses:

1. Navigate to the Health Profile section of a resident profile. 

2. In the Primary Diagnosis or Secondary Diagnosis fields, start typing the diagnosis. Once you start typing, the dropdown menu will display all possible ICD-10 coded options for you can select.

3. Once you have added all diagnoses, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the Health Profile section and click the Update button to save. 

For more assistance with Structured Diagnoses,

Contact our ALIS Customer Success Team:

888.404.ALIS (2547) or support@go-alis.com