First 2 weeks of ICD-10 Coding ? Impacts So Far

Posted by Niurka Moreno on October 29th, 2015

The transition from the ICD-9 to ICD-10 medical coding set finally happened on October 1st, 2015 after a lot of confusion and 3 years of postponement. While most Healthcare Providers already made preparations to face this huge challenge, some did believe that the ICD-10 medical coding implementation would get postponed this year as well. Those Providers were greatly impacted when the transition happened as proposed. In addition, even the Providers who were prepared for the transition in advance are struggling with the ICD-10 medical coding set. Certainly, the inclusion of over 200,000 codes is not a simple thing to master within a month. Let us see how the transition has impacted the Providers so far:

CMS’s Concession: Last month, CMS announced that it would offer the Healthcare Providers with 1-year grace period to get accustomed to the new ICD-10 medical coding set. It asserted that even the coded claims which are in the same ICD group irrespective of specificity required, would be reimbursed until the Providers acquire experience during the 1-year grace time. Although, this concession came as a great relief for uninterrupted medical claims processing, Providers still face a lot of issues in terms of spending quality time for patient care.

What Sermo Says?

After the implementation, there has been a huge buzz in the US healthcare domain about how the ICD-10 medical coding set is performing and impacting the lives of Providers. Sermo, an online community created for Providers in 2006, conducted a poll on the same. Shockingly, 86% out of the 200 members claimed that they do not find quality time for patient care since the transition. Only a mere 14% said that the transition has not affected their work.

Challenges Faced:

Following is the consolidation of the various issues faced by several Providers due to the ICD-10 medical coding transition:

• Filling out lab requisition forms has become a huge burden due to inclusion of new codes

• Medical claims processing involving coding takes a longer time than usual

• Spending quality time for patient care has been reduced

• ICD-10 medical coding involves great complexities arising various doubts in Providers. Payers have a hard time clarifying to them, which again impacts Providers’ time

• Due to technical issues, many local Medicare carriers have been closed

• Several Payers have kept their websites under maintenance so as to update the new coding set. Therefore, Providers could not gain access to their Payers’ sites. Though CMS accepts claims within the same ICD group, other Payers still require the specific ICD codes.

• Medical billing and collections are delayed and there is a high chance for AR pileup

It is expected that there will be more such issues arising in the forthcoming weeks. The only way to keep your medical billing and collections alive and kicking is by outsourcing to medical coding and billing companies.

About MGSI:
Amidst the various challenges faced by Providers due to the ICD-10 medical coding transition, MGSI will offer exceptional medical billing and collection services to its clients. Based in Florida, this national medical claims processing company has 21 years of experience in the healthcare domain, while providing professional advice on how to handle ICD-10 transition. To learn more details, log on to www.mgsionline.com.