ICD-10 Implementation: Five Facts to Know Now
By - Many commonly accepted myths have been recently circulating among healthcare providers, payers, and professionals about the upcoming implementation of ICD-10, the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases. Some perceptions hold bearing. However, some of them are mere fleeting gossip.
It is important that correct information is dispersed and recognized throughout the healthcare industry. Seeking to better educate the industry, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently spoke with a variety of healthcare providers to identify the most common misperceptions about the ICD-10 transition and clarify erroneous concepts.
CMS released five facts to help identify the most commonly mentioned ICD-10 inquiries and concerns. The following information will hopefully clear up general myths about the possibility of transition delay, daunting code volume, procedure codes, and available resources.
Stop playing the waiting game
The ICD-10 transition date is October 1, 2015, says CMS. There has been sizable effort and investment in ICD-10 on behalf of government initiatives and actions from payers and large providers. Further delay of the transition date means healthcare costs will increase, CMS states.
Do not be concerned about code volume
Although ICD-10 offers 68,000 codes, each practice will only use a small subset of codes, says CMS. Even in ICD-9, practices do not use all of the 13,000 available diagnosis codes, confirms CMS.
Consider ICD-9 as a code selection guide
Increasing the number of diagnosis codes does not make ICD-10 more complicated or arduous to use, says CMS. ICD-9 had an alphabetic index and a series of available electronic tools to assist with code selection. ICD-10 will utilize a similar process for looking up ICD-10 codes, says CMS. The process is familiar and easily adoptable.
Change is not inevitable
Outpatient and office procedure codes will remain the same, says CMS. Similarly, the use of CPT for outpatient and office coding will not be affected by the transition to ICD-10 for diagnosis coding and inpatient procedure coding. Practices will indeed still use CPT, confirms CMS.
Take advantage of testing opportunities
A Medicare fee-for-service provider can accept CMS’ opportunity to conduct testing with CMS prior to the ICD-10 transition. Acknowledgement testing can be conducted by a practice or clearinghouse at any time with a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC). The purpose of testing will be to ensure the submission of claims with ICD-10 codes.
CMS confirms there will be a specialized week in June of 2015 dedicated to acknowledgement testing. During this week, access to real-time help desk support will be readily available. Contacting MAC for additional opportunities regarding testing is encouraged.
