Independence has begun testing with large health systems, which include
hospitals, physicians, and clearing houses. We will be communicating our
testing experience and lessons learned to network providers to ensure a smooth
transition to ICD-10 by October 1, 2015.
Tips for a successful conversion
Steps you can take to ensure a successful transition to ICD-10:
- Make a plan
- Identify which ICD-9 codes you use heavily.
- Identify staff that need to be trained in medical coding and/or
documentation.
- Contact vendors to learn their transition plans, ICD-10-related costs to
the practice, and resources available to the practice.
- Contact the specialty societies or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) website for any resources available to the practice.
- Get trained
- Buy or download an ICD-10 diagnosis codebook.
- Arrange and obtain documentation training for physicians and other
clinicians.
- Crosswalk common diagnosis codes to ICD-10 and identify new requirements or
differences in essential documentation.
- Sign up for key CMS webinars to increase understanding of the ICD-10
environment.
- Update internal practice tools
- Convert superbills to ICD-10.
- Convert other materials to ICD-10, such as authorizations, orders, and
referrals.
- Identify current code-related claim denials and areas where ICD-10?s
specificity in documentation and code assignment can address this.
- Obtain payer medical polices with ICD-10 codes for comparison.
- Work with vendors and payers
- Arrange and implement ICD-10 software upgrades and training for staff on
use of new software, either directly or via the vendor.
- Identify electronic health records documentation templates and assess how
they support ICD-10 specificity for claims submission and medical
necessity.
- Engage payers on any discrepancies and omissions in ICD-10 coding for
medical policies.
- Identify if payers anticipate any changes in processing and payment due to
ICD-10.
- Test the process
- Perform testing on systems within the practice.
- Perform end-to-end testing, where available.
- Identify and correct issues encountered during testing.
- Educate staff on the impact of ICD-10 to payer edits, adjudication, and
other claims elements to processes within the practice.
For the most up-to-date information, including updates on external testing,
frequently asked questions, and dial-in information for the next What's Up
Wednesday call, please visit our dedicated ICD-10
web page and be sure to read future editions of Partners in Health
UpdateSM.