Last Updated on Friday, 3 August 2012 03:26 Written by deepwellarchive Friday, 3 August 2012 03:26

---

 

August3,2012

IDC 10 Coding System Deadline Rapidly Approaching

Although the most recent deadline for the ICD-10 coding system is October 1, 2013 it appears that their may be yet another delay. From an article posted on diagnosticimaging.com “The most recent deadline of Oct. 1, 2013, for practices and hospitals to shift from ICD-9 to the updated version, is likely to be delayed again. CMS is expected to provide guidance sometime this fall. Most are betting it will be October 1, 2014, but we don’t know that as a fact,” said Melody Mulaik, president of Coding Strategies and a member of the Healthcare Billing and Management Association.

Although this is not the first delay, one thing is clear; now is a good time to begin preparing for the new coding.  ICD-10 coding provides much greater detail and goes from about 16,000 codes to around 68,000 codes along with much greater detail such as which limb is injured, i.e. right or left etc.  Other details such as “is this an initial visit for diagnosis or a subsequent follow-up visit, etc.” will be documented in the new coding system.  It is also clear that the new coding system’s detail will force radiologists to improve their documentation as well.  Fortunately radiological documentation has, for the most part, been largely electronic for a long time making the system upgrades to IDC-10 much easier.  Another advantage radiologists have over other specialists is that their coding is quite often done by either a billing service or internal staff, giving them a leg up on practices without coders.

It is still uncertain exactly how the ICD-10 coding system will impact the industry but some experts feel that the increased detail in radiologist’s documentation will potentially result in a significant decrease in claim denials and payment delays. 

With a decrease in advanced imaging procedures, reimbursement cuts for exams, and more cuts on the horizon, now is a good time to take steps to ensure that your practice takes advantage of any program that can reduce denials and speed up payments.  ICD-10 coding and the meaningful use programs can provide radiologists with some of the tools to accomplish this. 

We will bring you more news, research and opinions on this and other topics in future posts. 

For more information please visit:

www.deepwellarchive.com

“A Vendor Neutral Archive Company”