September 21, 2012
by: Maureen Doherty
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have released the new ICD-10 Implementation Date: October 1, 2014. There are currently 17,000 ICD-9 codes; ICD-10 will increase that number to 140,000.
How does your practice/facility prepare for this change? For a smooth transition, an ICD-10 implementation plan needs to be established. Consider the following key elements and timelines:
Third Quarter 2012 – Fourth Quarter 2013
- Educating the key decision makers of the practice/facility with a high level overview of ICD-10 Implementation
- Assigning a Steering Committee of individuals/teams to oversee ICD-10 Implementation
- Performing a practice/facility assessment to determine areas that will be affected by the change
- Creating the Implementation Plan: Cover budget, training, readiness of vendors and payors, timetables and policies/procedures
First Quarter 2014 – Third Quarter 2014
- Determining IT testing times and schedules to prepare for ICD-10 Implementation
- Educating staff and providers on changes in documentation requirements
- Training of staff and providers for additional changes for the practice/facility (i.e., software)
- Testing software, internally and externally
Fourth Quarter 2014 – Fourth Quarter 2015
- Performing post-implementation maintenance, addressing issues such as system errors, reimbursement denials and additional training for coding and documentation
Since the ICD-10 implementation plan alone can take up to six months to put in place, most practices/facilities should have already started the process. If you haven’t, now is the time to start meeting with the key decision makers and assigning your steering committee.