On October 1, 2015 physicians will be required to use the new ICD-10-CM. This revision is enormous. Currently the ICD-9-CM has 13,000 diagnostic codes. With the ICD-10 revision, the number of codes rises to more than 68,000.

In addition to the expanded number of codes, the ICD-10 will include twice as many categories and it will offer codes to specifies treatment. For example, there will now be a code to specify whether treatment is for a left or right leg.

Needless to say, there is going to be a learning curve. The size of the code book makes it impractical to carry around, so take it virtual.

The Precyse University ICD-10 Virtual Code Book app, which was developed by a leading ICD-10 educator, gives you access the ICD-10 codes without the back breaking paper copy.

Searching the app for the specific code you are looking for is simple. Just enter clinical terms and/or disease/condition names into the search bar. The app will return the correct and specific ICD-10-CM codes.

You can also use clinical words and modifiers to refine your search for those conditions that have a large number of code choices.

The app gives you detailed information on each code including guideline and convention information, such as Excludes, Includes, Code Also, and other rules governing code selection, in an easy to read format.

The app also provides specific ICD-10 documentation tips for many of the conditions giving you a heads up about the documentation required for that code choice.

You can mark items as Favorites, look up by chapter, cross-references and links to other related codes. The developer ensures that there will be frequent updates to stay abreast of any changes made by the CMS.

The app is available for iPhone and iPad ($7.99) and Android. It is available at the Apple App Store, Google Play and the Amazon App store.