It may be too early to start intensive ICD-10-CM training for your coding team, but now is a good time for your coders to at least become familiar with features of the new system.
The transition to ICD-10 is not in any way the kind of transition we made from ICD-8 to ICD-9, nor is it a simple matter of training coders and implementing a revised encoding system. This will probably be one of the biggest transitions hospitals and HIM directors and coders have seen in many years.
Medically unnecessary services and incorrectly coded items had the highest amounts of RAC overpayments collected in the demonstration project, according to CMS.
Most agree that the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be a “game changer” in how physicians and their facilities will be reimbursed in the coming years.
For years the demand for coders has exceeded supply, and for many possible reasons. This may be because coders do not think that salaries are commensurate with the knowledge, expectations, and stress. And coders often move on to other positions and do not make a career of coding.
Editor’s note: Use this quiz to prepare staff members for ICD-10-PCS by expanding their knowledge of root operations for surgery. In future months, we will feature quizzes on anatomy and physiology to help coders continue to prepare for the transition.
Certain modifiers are well-known as being difficult for coders. (Modifier -59, anyone?) Others, particularly HCPCS level II modifiers, may be a challenge because they are new, more complex, or simply used infrequently on your hospital’s claims.
Many hospitals seem to struggle with inconsistencies in the quality of their physicians’ history and physical exam (H&P) documentation, particularly when it comes to allergies and current medications. And the medical staff at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, AK, believed they were no exception, according to MarianneDailey, RHIT, CHP, CPHQ, HIM director and privacy officer at the hospital.
Are you where you should be in terms of the ICD-10 implementation process? If you aren't sure whether your hospital is on track, or if you know you aren't where you need to be, consider taking advantage of a customizable timeline, courtesy of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI)/North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance (NCHICA) Timeline Initiative.
