Late yesterday afternoon, CMS (the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services) broke their silence and announced that the new ICD-10-CM implementation date will be October 1, 2015. This information comes on the heels of passage of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 on April 1, which delayed the implementation of ICD-10-CM from October 1, 2014 to a date “not prior than October 1, 2015”. Following the passage of this law, there was a broad discussion of whether or not the new date for ICD-10 implementation would, in fact, be October 1, 2015 or if it would be later. Other thoughts were that we may skip ICD-10-CM altogether and go to ICD-11-CM, scheduled for release in 2017.
Finally, CMS confirmed yesterday that we will go ahead with ICD implementation on October 1, 2015. Knowing this, agencies should now take a deep breath, reset the mindset, and begin or continue preparations for ICD-10-CM. According to CMS timelines for small and medium sized agencies, agencies should have already completed Planning and Communications aspects in first quarter of this year. This includes Identifying resources, creating a project team, assessing effects of ICD-10-CM implementation, creating a project plan, securing an implementation budget, informing staff, and contacting vendors and payers regarding their readiness. These first steps should be followed by High-level training for the test team, beginning second quarter on into January of 2015.
For agencies who were preparing for the 2014 implementation date, it is recommended that we continue dual coding, staff training, and practicing use of ICD-10-CM until full implementation in October 2015. Studies have shown that one of the biggest issues anticipated with implementation of this new code set is productivity. By increasing proficiency in ICD-10-CM coding, agencies can offset this huge decline in productivity by training agency staff and practicing dual coding.
At Axxess, we are committed to providing resources and training on ICD-10-CM. Please continue monitoring our ICD-10-CM page for upcoming webinar and seminar dates, as well as blog articles and posts regarding ICD-10-CM news.
Resources
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/ICD-10ImplementationTimelines.html
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/CMS_ICD-10_Industry_Email_Updates.html