Posts Tagged ‘ICD-9-CM’

By Deborah Grider, CPC, CPC-I, CPC-H, CPC-P, CEMC, COBGC, CPCD, CCS-P

Is your organization delaying the implementation process.  Do you feel like the federal government will delay ICD-10 so you are procrastinating beginning the process? Are you risking delay and in some cases lost revenue in 2013?  ICD-10 seems like a long time away, but is it? Read more »

Nearly 700 attendees join the AAPC in Norfolk, Va., for two-day event

NORFOLK, Va.—Oct. 12, 2009—The American Academy of Professional Coders’ (AAPC) Regional Conference last weekend drew the largest number of attendees ever in the history of regional conferences, with nearly 700 medical coders and health care professionals attending the two-day continuing education event, Oct. 8-10. The conference boasted more than 20 educational breakout sessions, covering topics such as Medicare research tips and traps, understanding fraud and ICD-9-CM updates for 2010.

“One conference, 700 attendees and almost 20 exhibitors all in one place—this conference was a complete success and exceeded our expectations,” said Reed Pew, AAPC President and CEO. “We first began hosting regional conferences two years ago, and with the response we received this weekend in Norfolk, we look forward to hosting future regional conferences.”

Pew kicked off the conference Friday morning, discussing the AAPC’s plans for 2010 and its growth rate. The AAPC’s membership drive is in full swing, aiming to reach 100,000 members by the end of 2010. Additionally, Pew announced two new specialty credentials in Hematology/Oncology and Podiatry, as well as a new core credential, the Certified Professional Medical Auditor credential (CPMA). Pew also spoke about the AAPC’s efforts in the successful delay of the final implementation date for ICD-10.

AAPC Vice President of Strategic Development, Deborah Grider, presented a general session on beginning preparation now for ICD-10. The session discussed preparation of implementation and analysis of ICD-10 for physician practices, hospital departments and health plans—small or large. The AAPC will offer on-site ICD-10 training for both providers and health plans beginning in 2010.

The AAPC will host its 2010 National Conference June 6-9 in Nashville, Tenn., and its 2010 Regional Conference Oct. 7-9 in Springfield, Mass.

By Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC, CPC-I, CGSC, CPEDC, COBGC, CENTC

Let’s take a first look at how to code for HIV in ICD-10-CM. With a little help from the guidelines we will be well on our way. Familiarity with guidelines prior to code selection will help us along the way to proper code selection. Below is an excerpt from the Draft ICD-10-CM Guidelines regarding HIV coding. Read more »

By Angela “Annie” Boynton RHIT, CPC, CCS, CPC-H, CCS-P, CPC-P, CPC-I

At this point, many are aware of the impending upgrades to ICD-10 and 5010/D.0/3.0.  Much has been touted about the costs.  It seems that the majority of health care leaders ask “How can we afford to implement ICD-10?” It’s a valid question especially when nationwide estimates are as high as $8 billion dollars to implement ICD-10.  Over the past few years many studies have been done that focus on the cost of implementation.  RAND Corporation, the Nolan Corporation and Price Waterhouse Coopers have all studied the fiscal impact of ICD-10 implementation. Read more »

By Julia Croly, CPC, CPC-P

With ICD-10-CM/PCS on the horizon, health plans will need to review their policies and procedures that work behind the scenes to administer benefits and adjudicate claims.  Does your health plan deny claims for pre-existing conditions?  Who in your health plan is responsible for the maintenance of the pre-existing list of conditions and their ICD-9-CM code(s)?

Let’s step back and look at what “pre-existing” is and what it means to members and health plans.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has posted the annual update to ICD-9-CM on its Web site as addenda changes to the index and tabular list. These fiscal year 2010 changes go into effect Oct. 1, 2009.

In the index, additions are marked with bold and underlining; revisions are marked with bold, underlining, and italic; and deletions are marked with bold and strikeout.

Download the following addenda, created June 3:

ICD-9-CM Index Addenda. 48 pp.

ICD-9-CM Tabular Addenda. 53 pp.

Download the following errata, created July 20:

ICD-9-CM Index Addenda Errata. 2 pp.

ICD-9-CM Tabular Addenda Errata. 1 pp.

By Rhonda Buckholtz

Ongoing changes in the implementation of ICD-10 require taking a closer look at Internal Systems to ensure the organization has the capability to move forward with implementation.  Does your organization have enough hard drive space to house two codes sets (ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM) simultaneously for a period of time before and after implementation?

The organization must orient information systems technology (IT) personnel as to the specifications necessary for the code sets for successful transition. Read more »

The 2010 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Final Rule, released July 31, provides acute care hospitals with an inflation update of 2.1 percent in their 2010 payment rates. The documentation and coding adjustment the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed in May has been put on hold.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the second in its series of articles about ICD-10-CM general equivalency maps (GEM) June 3. This latest article answers a number of frequently asked questions about GEM.

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