In preparation for the switch from version 9 of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to ICD-10 coding for medical diagnoses and inpatient hospital procedures, two groups have released additional guidance.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) are working to make sure physicians and other providers are ready ahead of the October 1 start date for ICD-10. They are educating providers through webinars, onsite training, educational articles, and national provider calls.
ICD-10 will advance public health research and emergency response through the detection of disease outbreaks and adverse drug events, as well as support new payment models, CMS and AMA said.
Free help available from CMS includes the Road to 10, aimed specifically at smaller physician practices, with primers for clinical documentation, clinical scenarios, and other specialty-specific resources. CMS has also released provider training videos that offer ICD-10 implementation tips.
AMA's resources can be found on AMA Wire.
CMS has also accomplished a number of milestones around ICD-10 implementation:
- Setting up an ICD-10 communications and coordination center
- Sending a letter in July to all Medicare fee-for-service providers encouraging ICD-10 readiness
- Completing the final window of Medicare end-to-end testing for providers this month
- Offering ongoing Medicare acknowledgement testing for providers through September 30
- Providing additional in-person training through the Road to 10 for small physician practices
- Hosting an MLN Connects National Provider Call on August 27
As part of the transition, Medicare claims processing systems will not be able to accept ICD-9 codes for dates of service after September 30, nor will they be able to accept claims for both ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes.
At the request of AMA, CMS will name a CMS ICD-10 ombudsman to triage and answer questions about the submission of claims. The ICD-10 ombudsman will be located at CMS' ICD-10 Coordination Center.
