Written by Sara Heath // October 2, 2015 // EHR Intelligence
On October 1, the healthcare industry began ICD-10 compliance after countless months of preparation. In a CMS post, Deputy Administrator and Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) welcomed providers to ICD-10 and provided words of guidance to industry stakeholders on the transition day.
According to Cavanaugh, it may take a little while before CMS is able to assess how the transition to ICD-10 is proceeding. The reasons for this are twofold: first, most providers do not file claims on the same day as a service has been provided, and second, it takes a few weeks for CMS to process Medicare and Medicaid claims.
“Even after submission, Medicare claims take several days to be processed, and Medicare — by law — must wait two weeks before issuing payment. Medicaid claims can take up to 30 days to be submitted and processed by states,” Cavanaugh wrote.
It is most likely that CMS will be able to assess ICD-10 progress following the first complete billing cycle. This is consistent with other CMS claims. In a conference call with industry stakeholders which took place a week before the October 1 deadline, CMS Principal Deputy Administrator Patrick H. Conway, MD, MSc, confirmed the same timeline for checking ICD-10 progress.
Until then, Cavanaugh explained, CMS plans to closely monitor the transition. Furthermore, CMS will be managing problems and questions that are submitted to the ICD-10 Coordination Center, which is staffed by several Medicare, Medicaid, billing, coding, and health IT experts to assist during the transition. In addition to the ICD-10 Coordination Center, Cavanaugh points providers toward other ICD-10 assistance resources, including William Rogers, MD, the ICD-10 ombudsman, and Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs).
Cavanaugh also discussed the potential benefits of the ICD-10 transition, including the promise of more detailed health data reporting and better healthcare delivery. By increasing the detail with which medical care is reported, policy changes can be more specific to the needs of populations.
“The change to ICD-10 allows you to capture more details about the health status of your patients and sets the stage for improved patient care and public health surveillance across our country,” he wrote. “ICD-10 will help move the nation’s health care system to better, smarter care.”
These hopes for ICD-10 have been mirrored by many industry stakeholders, including AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. Thomas Gordon recently stated how ICD-10 will be of great benefit for patients because it will allow for better healthcare innovation due to the extensive detail of health records.
“As an active leader, supporter and advocate for ICD-10, AHIMA is pleased that the greater detail inherent in the code set will reverse the trend of deteriorating health data and tell a more complete and accurate patient story,” she said.
As providers continue with their transition to ICD-10, CMS is expected to report any major issues and provide guidance in fostering the smoothest transition possible.
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