Five Facts to Know About ICD-10
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently talked with providers to identify common misconceptions about the transition to ICD-10 and provided these five facts to address some of the questions and concerns. Here are five facts to know about ICD-10.
1. The ICD-10 transition date is STILL October 1, 2015.
The ICD-10 transition will require a high investment by healthcare organizations, payers and providers alike. And the costs will rise if the transition is delayed any further. Therefore, be sure to get ready now for ICD-10 to avoid any further costs to your practice.
2. You will NOT need to know nor have to use ALL 68,000 codes.
“Your practice does not use all 13,000 diagnosis codes available in ICD-9. Nor will it be required to use the 68,000 codes that ICD-10 offers.” says CMS. The subset of codes you will have to use will depend on your practice.
3. You will use a similar process to look up ICD-10 codes that you use with ICD-9.
As with ICD-9, there are many resources and tools available to help you with code selection such as the ChartMaker Medical Suite Crosswalk.
4. Outpatient and office procedure codes aren’t changing.
As per CMS, “The transition to ICD-10 for diagnosis coding and inpatient procedure coding does not affect the use of CPT for outpatient and office coding. Your practice will continue to use CPT.”
5. All Medicare fee-for-service providers have the opportunity to conduct testing with CMS before the ICD-10 transition.
Did you know that your practice or clearinghouse can conduct acknowledgement testing at any time with your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC)? By conducting testing, you will be able to submit claims with ICD-10 codes. In addition, during a special “acknowledgement testing” week to be held in June 2015, you will have access to real-time help desk support. Contact your MAC for details about testing plans and opportunities. Keep Up to Date on ICD-10 Visit the CMS ICD-10 website for the latest news and resources to help you prepare. Sign up for CMS ICD-10 Industry Email Updates and STI ICD-10 Updates