Review published information on www.cms.gov/icd10
Order the new CMS-1500 (02/12) Paper Claim Forms (If you have a billing service you don’t need these)
Order ICD10-CM 2014 coding books. (Even if you have a billing service, you should have these on hand as a reference until everyone is comfortable with the new codes.)
Order ICD 10-CM 2014 mapping charts for your specialty. Typically these will crossover the 50 most commonly used codes for your specialty from ICD-9 to ICD-10. (We will provide these for our clients)
Conduct provider/staff training. Schedule webinars for your specialty for you and your staff. Order any required training materials.
Review the most commonly used ICD-9 codes that you’re presently documenting in your charts. Determine if the level of detail that your documentation for ICD-9 will be sufficient to select codes from ICD-10.
In an effort to minimize the impact on October 1, 2014, implement any documentation changes now that you have the time. For example: laterality and sequela (late effects), Code extensions: Initial, subsequent, and sequela.
Update your encounter/superbill with the most commonly used codes. (We will be working with our clients that use encounters to do this)
Workflow for providers, staff, and billing agency’s will be impacted by this change. Documentation and coding will take longer if coders have to keep requesting additional documentation from providers, this will have an effect on turnaround time for claims. This may have an effect on cash flow and the provider/employee time schedules. Have a contingency plan in place to cover additional hours and or additional financial burdens that may surface as a result.
Talk with your EHR vendors, Billing Companies, and IT staff about their preparations and readiness. (We will be meeting with our clients regarding our preparations and helping them with their readiness plans.)
If you’re a small privately owned medical practice that will need help with their ICD-10 billing, preparations, or technology feel free to give us a call. We work with many small, privately owned, medical practices and we can provide the resources that the big practices have at a very affordable price so that you can continue in your practice the way you always have! Call us toll free at 1.877.666.5279
Leave a Reply