If you have seen a health care professional for anything since April 1, 2022, you have been Covid Vaccination code labeled.
A little bit about the coding system in general: The United States healthcare industry first adopted the World Health Organization's ICD medical coding system in 1979.
It was deemed important because it provided a common language for recording, reporting and monitoring diseases. It also allowed the comparing and sharing of data in a consistent and standard way – between hospitals, regions and countries and over periods of time.
In other words, health care providers are ORDERED to use it to categorize different kinds of patients. The ICD-10 codes are preserved in a patient’s electronic health record and used by insurance companies for billing purposes. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics maintains the codes. Within the ICD codes, there is a category known as “ICD-10-CM” codes (which are reportedly used by the CDC for tracking purposes), and this “CM” category includes the new “Unvaccinated for COVID-19” category and also the “Partially Vaccinated For COVID-19” category and the “other underimmunization status” category.
https://www.aapc.com/blog/82697-reporting-covid-19-vaccination-status-in-2022/
This is a misleading. The Coding Guidelines use the terminology "MAY" meaning it is not mandatory and certainly is not a "surveillance program". Oh BTW I apply ICD 10 codes and review approximately 15-20 in-patient H & P (history and physical) a day, for the last 10 years and I have yet to see these codes in any hospital or office documentation and mostly I do not even see vaccination status documented. So, BREATHE. Like most things, they must be "complied" with and healthcare is not the most compliant industry out there. I actually suspect the AMA has now suggested "Don't ask Don't tell" lol
Chapter 1: Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases
(n) Under immunization for COVID-19 Status Code Z18.310, Unvaccinated for COVID-19, may be assigned when the patient has not received at least one dose of any COVID-19 vaccine. Code Z28.311, Partially vaccinated for COVID-19, may be assigned when the patient has received at least one dose of a multi-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen, but has not received the full set of doses necessary to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition of “fully vaccinated” in place at the time of the encounter. (pg31/115 of ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting FY 2022-Updated April 1, 2022)
When new codes are implemented, the word "may" is meaningless. It's fair to say that the word is never seen, heard, or discussed in your average doctor's office. You're either told to do something or not. The staff is either told (or not told) to ask every patient about vaccination status. If they don't ask, insurance company audits will come down hard with warnings and penalties.