As the calendar winds down toward the Oct. 1 compliance date for ICD-10, be aware of options that can help medical practices meet requirements while systems are being upgraded.
[Physicians and their staffs] “may not have everything they need to do in the office all prepared and installed, but if they take advantage of other methods for billing under ICD-10, like free software that might be available from the government or from clearinghouses or using payer portals to enter claims” they should be able to get by, Jim Daley, director of IT for Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, said in an interview. “They can still use ICD-10 on the compliance date, even though it may not be ideal.”
Jim Daley
Mr. Daley, who also is a past chair of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), outlined a number of resources to help with the transition, even as the deadline is fast approaching.
“In particular, the CMS Road to 10 website is outstanding,” Mr. Daley said. “It may be overwhelming at times, but there are some very nice summaries out there.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also posted to its website a series of specialty-specific guides to help with the transition.
“Also, WEDI has some great resources for physicians to view,” Mr. Daley continued, stressing that physicians need to be updating office software to make sure it supports ICD-10.
He suggested working with training partners and clearinghouses, who also might have resources to help with the transition. “Use those resources that are available, and also don’t delay. There’s still time, although it’s getting short. There is a lot to do.”
Finally, he stressed that more detailed clinical documentation will be key to a smooth transition. “Understand enough about what’s required for ICD-10 to create good clinical documentation. Concepts such as left side or right side are very basic, but if that’s in your documentation, it makes it much easier to code them through ICD-10,” Mr. Daley said.
He continued, “If you are documenting the exact conditions and the exact processes that you performed when you saw the patient, which you should be doing anyway, then it should be much easier to pick the correct code. They are not as general as before. They are very specific. So if you have those details in your documentation, it will drive you down to picking the correct codes.”