What type of information does the index in ICD-10-CM primarily provide?

The index in ICD-10-CM serves as a crucial tool for healthcare professionals and coders by providing a list of main terms along with their corresponding codes. This allows users to quickly locate the codes needed for various diagnoses without having to sift through extensive textual descriptions. The index is organized alphabetically, making it user-friendly and efficient for coders who need to find diagnosis codes promptly.

In contrast, while detailed explanations of each diagnosis can be found in the official guidelines or codebook, they are not provided in the index itself. Clinical guidelines for treatment are separate from the coding system, as ICD-10-CM focuses solely on classification and coding of diagnoses rather than on treatment pathways. A summary of coding history is also not directly relevant to the function of the index, which concentrates on current diagnostic terms and their respective codes rather than historical information.