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How to use anica-buddy, with examples you can type. For short answers to common questions, see the FAQ.

Getting started

  1. Sign in with the email your organisation registered.
  2. In the command line at the top, type a code such as E11.65 and press Enter.
  3. Set the date beside it to the date of service you are coding.
  4. Read the card. Anything underlined can be opened to see where it came from.

The date decides the edition

ICD-10-CM changes every 1 October, and the CMS-HCC mapping has its own payment-year releases. Buddy answers with the editions in force on the date you set, and names them in the line under the command bar.

Try E11.65 on 2026-09-25 and again on 2026-10-01: the first answer is from FY2026, the second from FY2027. On a date no loaded edition covers, such as 2025-09-30, Buddy refuses and says which edition is missing. It never answers from the year next door.

Reading a code card

  • The code in parts. Each character is labelled with the level it belongs to: chapter, category, subcategory and the characters after it.
  • Title and billable. The full Tabular title, and whether the code is billable or a header that needs more characters.
  • HCC rows. The V28 HCC the code maps to and the factor for the chosen segment (Community NA, Community ND, Institutional and the rest). Switch segment with the pills or the s key.
  • Notes. Includes, Excludes1, Excludes2, Code first, Use additional code and the others, including those inherited from the category and chapter above. Each note says which level it came from.
  • The drawer. Notes, Factors (every segment), Nearby codes, Details, Sources and the Evidence check open in a panel on the right. Its tab is part of the address, so you can share it.

What each answer means

These answers look alike but say different things. Buddy keeps them apart.

An HCC row
The code maps to that HCC in the named model year. Some codes map to two HCCs, for example B37.7: both rows are shown, because CMS lists both.
No V28 HCC
The code is valid and CMS maps it to no HCC. It is not an error. Try F32A.
Not in this release
The code is valid on your date, but the CMS mapping file was published before the code existed, so the file cannot say. Try C78.31 on 2026-10-01.
Not in this edition's Tabular List
The code does not exist in the ICD-10-CM edition for your date. This is the only answer that means invalid.
No edition governs this date
No loaded edition covers the date you set. Buddy names what is missing instead of guessing.
CPT is locked
A CPT code such as 99213 opens the lock screen. CPT content is licensed by the AMA and is not shown. The button there records that your organisation needs it.

Checking a note for MEAT

Open Evidence / MEAT in the sidebar, or the Evidence tab on a code card (e). Enter a code, set the date, and paste a short sentence from a note.

Do not paste a name, date of birth, MRN, member ID or any other identifier. The text is checked and discarded: it is not stored and is sent to no model.

Buddy marks, inside your text:

  • where the condition for that code is written, and the Tabular words it matched;
  • whether each mention is affirmed, negated, family history, ruled out, resolved or a screening;
  • the Monitor, Evaluate, Assess and Treat words near it.

Examples to try

I50.33 on 2026-09-25
Acute on chronic diastolic heart failure with preserved EF, EF 55%. Worsening dyspnea and bilateral leg edema. BNP elevated. Started IV furosemide 40 mg BID; will monitor daily weights.
I50.33, the contrast
Chronic diastolic heart failure, no acute exacerbation. Denies orthopnea.
E11.9 on 2026-10-01
Family history of diabetes. Patient denies diabetes; A1c normal. Both mentions are marked, one as family history and one as negated.

What it does not do

  • It does not decide whether a diagnosis is supported. MEAT is an industry convention, not a CMS rule; the judgement is yours.
  • It does not check specificity. In the contrast example it marks chronic diastolic heart failure but does not tell you the note lacks the acute on chronic that I50.33 needs.
  • It can miss words. Today it can miss a Treat or Monitor word in a later sentence than the condition, and some abbreviations. An unmarked word is not proof that the note lacks it.

The RAF calculator

Open RAF calculator. Enter age, sex, OREC, the two Medicaid flags, the segments to score and the diagnoses, each with its own date. No name, member ID or date of birth is asked for.

Example: age 72, sex F, OREC 0, both Medicaid flags no, segment COMMUNITY_NA, diagnoses E11.65 and I50.22 on 2026-10-01. The result lists the demographic cell, each HCC, the interaction between diabetes and heart failure, and the rule from CMS's own software behind every step.

The result is a raw score: the sum of published relative factors. It is not a payment figure, because the normalization factor and the MA coding pattern adjustment are not loaded.

Keyboard

On a code card:

/ search · n notes · f factors · h nearby · e evidence · s segment · ⌘K palette

The palette (⌘K or Ctrl K) goes to any page or code.

Checking a source

Every title, note, HCC and factor links to the file it was read from: its name, publisher, edition and the checksum Buddy verified when it started. The Sources tab on a card lists every file behind it. If a file cannot be verified, the figure is not shown.

Accounts and support

Accounts are created by your organisation's administrator; there is no public sign-up. If you cannot sign in, ask your administrator to check the email address on your account. Password reset is not built yet; your administrator can reach us to issue a new sign-in.

To report a wrong answer, note the code, the date and the edition line under the command bar, and send them to your administrator. The edition line tells us exactly which files the answer came from.