Market Trends of Medical Coding Industry
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is expected to witness significant growth in the overall medical coding market
International Classification of Diseases (ICD) offers a common language that allows health professionals to share standardized information worldwide. ICD is a diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management, and clinical purposes; WHO maintains it.
The ICD segment is expected to hold a significant share during the forecast period owing to the wide spread of chronic and infectious diseases worldwide and the growing need for ICDs for their effective management.
ICD is a foundation for identifying health trends and statistics worldwide, containing around 17,000 unique codes for injuries and diseases, underpinned by more than 120,000 codable terms. More than 1.6 million clinical situations can be coded using code combinations. International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Codes for cardiovascular diseases are ICD-9, ICD-9-CM, ICD-10, and ICD-10-CM.
Cardiovascular diseases, notably coronary heart diseases, are a major global health challenge expected to have a positive impact on segmental growth. For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in May 2023, about 5% of adults aged 20 and above had coronary artery disease. Additionally, in the United States, a heart attack occurs every 40 seconds, with 805,000 cases annually, with 605,000 of them being first occurrences. Medical coding services are crucial for accurately documenting and treating these cases, contributing to efficient healthcare processes and the growth of the medical coding market over the forecast period.
There has also been a rise in the burden of cancer, leading to hospitalization and demand for novel therapies, which is expected to propel the demand for medical coding software and solutions. For instance, according to a report published by the Cancer Journal for Clinicians in January 2024, about 2 million new cancer cases are projected to occur in the United States in 2024. Additionally, according to the report by Red Española de Registros de Cáncer in January 2023, about 279,260 new cancer cases were reported in Spain in 2023. Thus, the high number of cancer cases underscores the imperative for precise and comprehensive medical coding solutions to support effective disease management, contributing to the burgeoning demand in the medical coding market.
With the improved versions of ICD, its usage is expected to rise over the forecast period as the newer versions provide more information about the diseases than the previous ones. For instance, as per a February 2022 update by WHO, the new version of ICD, ICD-11, was entirely digital with a new user-friendly format and multilingual capabilities that reduce the chance of error. It was compiled and updated with input from over 90 countries and unprecedented involvement of healthcare providers, enabling evolution from a system imposed on clinicians into a helpful clinical classification and terminology database that serves a broad range of uses for recording and reporting statistics on health.
Hence, the segment is expected to record significant growth over the forecast period due to factors such as the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart diseases and advancements in the ICD version.
North America is Expected to Hold a Significant Share of the Market Over the Forecast Period
The medical coding market in North America is estimated to hold a significant share during the forecast period, owing to technological advancements and improved healthcare infrastructure in various countries in this region. In addition, the rising demand for coding services and the increasing need for streamlining hospital billing procedures due to the growing number of chronic diseases are expected to boost the market’s growth. The growing adoption of strategic initiatives by the market players in the region is also expected to propel market growth.
The escalating burden of chronic diseases is poised to expand the medical coding market as healthcare providers seek more sophisticated and streamlined solutions to accurately document and manage complex patient information. For instance, according to a report published by the American Cancer Society in January 2024, an estimated 2 million new cases of lung cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2024, compared to 1.9 million cases in 2023. The rising burden of cancer is resulting in higher hospitalization rates, which is expected to raise the demand for medical coding services over the forecast period.
Major players in the market are focusing on introducing new technologies and products, which is expected to drive the market’s growth. In November 2023, AAPC acquired Semantic Health, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup. Under this acquisition, the two teams plan to expand Semantic Health’s functionality and bolster AAPC’s product offerings. Also, AAPC plans to continue supporting Semantic Health’s existing customers while growing the platform. Similarly, in July 2023, Intelligent Medical Objects launched three new products named IMO Precision Normalize with NLP, IMO Precision Sets, and IMO Discovery for Problems.
Owing to the abovementioned factors, like technological advancements and improved healthcare infrastructure, the North American medical coding market is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period.
