ICD-10 New Codes: Deadline Approaches!

October is just around the corner and this means that it is the last quarter of this year and also the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2018 when changes for ICD-10 take effect.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the complete list of links and files regarding the new ICD-10-CM codes on their website: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/2018-ICD-10-CM-and-GEMs.html

The CMS 2018 ICD-10-CM files include

  • 363 new  code additions
  • 142 deletions
  • 250+ revisions

(source: https://www.aapc.com/blog/38894-2018-icd-10-cm-codes-released/)

Practices and coders will be confronted with many ICD-10 code changes, including noticeable revisions in gastroenterology, musculoskeletal, ob-gyn, ophthalmology, pediatrics and psychiatry.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) asked for changes that recognize the increased incidence of specific pregnancy complications occurring with the use of modern assisted reproductive technology.

“As of October 1, 2017, there will also be a specific ICD-10-CM code when a patient is in remission from abuse of each of a variety of substances. Other changes include new codes for myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure, and non-procreative genetic counseling. Codes were deleted for anorectal abscesses and head injuries.”

Now is the time for the healthcare industry to prepare and be ready for October 1. Healthcare services need to update their practice management, EHR, and other systems to correspond to the additions, revisions, and deletions. As well, health information management (HIM) professionals need to become familiar with the new, revised, and deleted codes.

Necessary code changes must be incorporated into every hospital, physician practice, medical provider, payer billing, and abstracting system, and encoder to ensure proper billing. Correct reimbursement is the top priority right now.

All organizations using procedure codes that will be deleted must retrieve the new codes that represent the same procedures for billing. And they must also find out the codes for new billing scenarios and revisions that add details to existing codes.

Rhonda Buckholtz, AACP’s Vice President of Strategic Development, says that code changes have “added laterality as concepts that were previously missing” or have “added codes for conditions that appeared to be missing in the ICD-10-CM, such as pulsatile tinnitus.” Many reintroduce coding and providing options that had been available in ICD-9 but were missing in ICD-10.

(source: http://www.chartlogic.com/blog/medical-practices-must-prepare-2017-changes-icd-10-cm/)

Using correct ICD-10 codes in billing is critical for accuracy and maximizing revenue in any medical organization. You can avoid delays or denied claims by reviewing any saved codes, adding new codes, and reviewing plans and documents that were mapped from old codes to new codes.

If you have any questions, our seasoned HIM experts can help to ensure you are applying the most accurate codes. You can contact us here: https://primeauconsultinggroup.com/contact-us.html

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