ICD-10 Transition Procedure Preparation Steps
ICD-10 Transition means that a HIPAA-covered entity uses the transition of the ICD-10 codes for health care services. ICD-9 diagnosis and inpatient procedure codes cannot be used for services provided on or after this date. The ICD-10 Transition deadline has been delayed by the federal government until no earlier than October 1, 2015.
For providers who have not yet started to transition to ICD-10, it is recommended the following action steps to take now. Some of these activities, such as establishing a transition team and communicating to internal staff, might not be necessary for small practices where one or two people will handle the transition activities.
- Establish a transition team or ICD-10 project coordinator, depending on the size of your organization, to lead the transition to ICD-10 for your organization.
- Develop a plan for making the transition to ICD-10. Include a timeline that identifies tasks to be completed and crucial milestones/relationships, task owners, resources needed, and estimated start and end dates.
- Determine how ICD-10 will affect your organization. Start by reviewing how and where you currently use ICD-9 codes. Make sure you have accounted for the use of ICD-9 in authorizations/pre-certifications, physician orders, medical records, super bills/encounter forms, practice management and billing systems, and coding manuals.
- Review how ICD-10 will affect clinical documentation requirements and electronic health record (EHR) templates.
- Communicate the plan, timeline, and new system changes and processes to your organization, and ensure that leadership and staff understand the extent of the effort the ICD-10 transition requires.
- Secure a budget that accounts for software upgrades/software license costs, hardware procurement, staff training costs, revision of forms, work flow changes during and after implementation, and risk mitigation.
- Talk with your health plan provider, billing and IT staff, and practice management system and/or EHR vendors about their preparations and readiness.
- Coordinate your ICD-10 transition plans among your trading partners and evaluate contracts with payers and vendors for policy revisions, testing timelines, and costs related to the ICD-10 transition.
- Talk to your trading partners about testing, and create a testing plan.