Abstract
Today, I learned an interesting fact. There is a diagnosis code to classify what many of us currently struggle with: burnout. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) has a classification code for burnout, lack of relaxation and leisure, and more in the section titled “Problems related to life-management difficulty.”
Advanced practitioners (APs) are familiar with the ICD-10 system, a systematic way to classify diseases, symptoms, and diagnoses in the clinical setting. In fact, the ICD codes are global classifications of disease initially set forth by the World Health Organization (WHO), which was formed in 1948. The diagnostic codes are currently maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and regularly updated.
Since 2016, Z codes were added as a subset of the many ICD-10 codes used to report social, economic, work, and environmental determinants known to affect health and health-related outcomes positively or negatively. Many APs in oncology experience stress, burnout, and a lack of relaxation and sleep because of long hours, lack of vacation time, and mounting clinical responsibilities. Those of us harboring these Z code diagnoses are therefore at risk for negative impacts on our physical and emotional health.
