Tag: ICD-10

Get on the “Road to 10”

Posted on by VettersEnt

CMS is pushing hard to get everyone prepared for 10/1/2015.  What is that date all about?  That is the drop dead date for ICD-10 conversion.  CMS says they are not pushing the date for compliance back any further and I know most of you are saying “Yeah right…that’s what they said last year”.  Well in our opinion it’s got to happen this year.  Check out CMS’ “Road to 10” website and tools.  This site has been improving and improving over time and it looks to us like they are ready to pull the trigger.

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/index.html

We know most of you are grudgingly preparing or angrily protesting the change but in reality this is one of the best things to happen in healthcare.  ICD-10 coding is going to really go a long way to help agencies track the healthcare that is administered in this country accurately.  Because ICD-10 coding requires the providers to be more specific about the patient’s medical condition, in the long term this can mean:

  • More funding towards specific diagnosis and treatment
  • More funding to areas of the country experiencing specific diagnosis ranges
  • Increased research into specific diagnosis
  •  Analytics and reporting to help providers in their areas

By no longer supporting the “unspecified” diagnosis codes we get a clearer picture of the country’s predisposition to certain diagnoses in specific regions of the country.  That way it won’t take someone accidentally finding that a small town in PA had less heart disease per capita than the rest of the country.  It will be through precise analytics.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-rock-positano/the-mystery-of-the-roseta_b_73260.html

The rest of the world is already using ICD-11 and it is about time America attempted to catch up.  Converting to ICD-10 is a step in the right direction.

 

 

 

ICD 10 Delayed – Again

Posted on by VettersEnt

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services posted in August 2014 that the road to ICD-10 compliance will be another year longer.  The new date for conversion is 10/1/2015.  As we’ve published before, this conversion is long over due and WILL be coming at some point even if they keep pushing back the date.

This conversion was not a part of the Affordable Care Act, so if you are thinking that if the ACA goes away so will this conversion and that is just simply “head in the sand” thinking.  This is an implementation of a international coding standard and we here in the US are just behind the curve with the rest of the western world in using this new classification system.  We do need to catch up and we eventually will.  Don’t let this conversion scare you out of your practice!  I have had a lot of providers tell me that they will quit first before converting, and that just isn’t practical.  ICD-10 will benefit the medical community by increasing the accuracy of diagnosis coding and allow entitlement programs and insurance carriers to gain more specificity in tracking diagnosis populations.  With more specificity comes more attention which leads to more reimbursement for the provider.

If you are a small practice, I urge you to check out the CMS website for the “Road to 10” implementation map

Road to 10: CMS Online Tool for Small Practices

CMS has released Road to 10, an online resource built with the help of providers in small practices, is now available. This tool is intended to help small medical practices jumpstart their ICD-10 transition.

“Road to 10” includes specialty references and gives providers the capability to build ICD-10 action plans tailored for their practice needs.

Also, VE Cycle Management specializes in providing solutions that are already ICD-10 ready.  We can help!  Contact us today!

ICD-10 Delay

Posted on by VettersEnt

So on 3/31/14 both the house and senate voted on a “Dr. Fix” bill that included language for another one year delay on the ICD-10 implementation.  CMS has been saying for more than a year that there will be no more delays…period… Then what does the congress do? Overrule them.  Many healthcare organizations are speaking out that the delay portion of the bill did not have to be included. That congress has once again cost us billions of dollars by not listening to their constituency or the experts when it comes to throwing in additional pieces of legislature just to pad the bill.  Here is what the American Healthcare Information Management Association had to say: http://journal.ahima.org/2014/03/31/senate-votes-on-icd-10-delay-bill/

While most experts agree it was a stupid move to include the delay in the bill, now providers are wondering what they are supposed to do.  Check out this link: http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/icd-10-delay-how-providers-should-respond/2014-04-02

As far as VE Cycle Management is concerned we are going to continue to prepare our clients for ICD-10 as part of what we do for them daily.  Providers now have some extra time to train, map and migrate and may think that the road to full implementation will be slowed again.  The point is and the point that my company will emphasize is “don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today!” 

ICD-10 is still coming, we are the only western nation still on ICD-9, most of Europe is on ICD-11 so it’s just a matter of time and you have to make sure your staff, technology, and you are ready for it.  Ask us, we’ll help!