As each day passes, we get closer to the implementation date of ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS. I have been scouring the ICD-10 manual to identify things that will change (some things for the better, some...
Excludes notes in ICD-10 will have a slightly different look. Currently in ICD-9, there are simply excludes notes listed below codes in italic font. In ICD-10, there are two types of exclude notes:...
In my last blog post , I explained how I tackled the challenge of educating myself about ICD-10, realizing the significant cost that would be associated with registering for every ICD-10 Webinar,...
CMS will host its third national Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) education call on HIPAA Version 5010 on September 9, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Providers will need to transition to this new transaction...
Are you an educator who needs to learn ICD-10 as soon as possible so that you can be prepared to teach your students, coding staff members, or other clients and entities that you serve? Are you...
Even though it's still early to start studying and learning ICD-10 codes, at this point you should at least take a look at codes you commonly assign to get a sense of the changes and to see whether...
What is your organization doing to plan for the transition to ICD-10? Have you formed an ICD-10 implementation committee? Have coding staff members attended any recent educational sessions, such as...
It is widely known that ICD-10 is going to be much more specific than ICD-9. While that is true, there are some ICD-9 codes that will not be as specific in ICD-10. Here are two examples: ICD-9 codes...
In a recent JustCoding.com mini-poll, we asked subscribers the following question: Has your organization established a timeline for the transition to ICD-10? This is the breakdown of the 151...
As I heaved my ICD-9 Manual , projector, and laptop into the overhead bin on my flight home from Atlanta this past Friday after teaching an inpatient coding boot camp, a thought occurred to me: What...
How much ICD-10 training are you ready for today? The American Health Information Management Association states: It would be impractical and a waste of resources and time to start training coders now...
In a previous blog , I discussed how CMS was considering freezing updates to the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 coding systems prior to the October 1, 2013 implementation. Many in the industry have said that...
Although the health care community is primarily focusing on the implementation to ICD-10 in 2013, a critical step before the new coding system takes effect is the switch to transaction standard...
CMS recently posted on its Web site a presentation titled "Introduction to ICD-10-CM/PCS: For Physician Specialty Group Representatives." In addition to CMS representative Pat Brooks, a number of...
CMS recently posted a very good document titled ICD-10-CM/PCS Myths & Facts , which clarified many myths regarding ICD-10 and specified facts upon which you should base your plan for...
CMS has created a tool that can help ease the process for mapping out equivalent codes between ICD-9 and ICD-10. On May 19, CMS hosted an ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation and General Equivalence Mappings...
ICD-10 will bring a lot of welcome changes and correct many of the issues and shortcomings with ICD-9. One particular source of confusion with ICD-9 relates to the excludes notes. In ICD-9, the...
You might be far enough along in your ICD-10 implementation timeline to attend some informational sessions that go beyond the basics. "You're going to see more companies advertising functional...
One of the many things that will be affected in order to accommodate the ICD-10 codes is the format of electronic claims. CMS recently announced that it receives more than 99% of the Medicare Part A...
On May 19, CMS hosted a conference call during which it addressed the use of General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs). A transcript of the call is now available on the CMS Web site . CMS representative...
