The deadline for conversion to ICD-10 clinical coding is October 1, 2014. In February 2013 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently sent a letter to AHIMA President Kathleen A. Frawley stating that they will not change the implementation date. ICD-10 is currently used in almost every country in the world except the United States. It is the most radical change to the healthcare industry in 20 years.
ICD-9 to ICD-10 Comparison
The following table gives a summary comparison between ICD-9 and ICD-10.
ICD-9
ICD-10 CM
(Diagnosis)
ICD-10 PCS (Treatment)
13,600 codes
69,833 codes
71,918 codes
Exact map
3,533
47
Approximate map
61,820
69,800
Combination
3,811
2,071
No map
669
0
Numeric E & V
Alpha/Numeric - Always starts with letter - No V codes
Alpha/Numeric - Always starts with letter
5 digits long
7 digits long
7 digits long
Major Concerns
Productivity losses expected to range from 10% to 50%
Increased coding backlog & time requirements to assign codes
Increased Discharged Not Final Billed (DNFB) and AR days
Decreased ability to assign codes from memory
Increased anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology requirements
Coder shortage
ICD-9 to ICD-10 mapping and dual processing during implementation
End-to-end testing (This is now a mandatory major activity under the Affordable Care Act.)
Up to 12 months lead time from planning through testing and implementation
Testing of software and application updates and changes
Training and education of all personnel involved in coding, including the changes to documentations and forms
Workflow and process changes required by conversion
Strategic Alliance
Wind Ridge International, LLC, Integritas Solutions, and Rice Consulting have formed a strategic alliance to provide a full range of services to help you have a successful implementation. Our proprietary software allows us to analyze up to one year of your actual data, map the ICD-9 codes, by preparing entity, to ICD-10 codes, and provide an assessment of risk.
Our services include:
Assessment—Conversion readiness, test readiness, and risk
Planning—Conversion, testing strategy, test planning, and test design and implementation
Managed Services—Project management and staffing for test execution
Training—Conversion overview, conversion planning, testing strategy, test planning, and training in-house ICD-10 testers
Contact Wind Ridge International, LLC to discuss how we can help you have a successful implementation.
