Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

Question: I’m worried about the ICD-10 conversion. Sure, we still have plenty of time to take training and get our new processes in order, but how can we know we’re really ready for the deadline? Our agency can’t afford reimbursement delays and denials.

Connecticut Subscriber

Answer: If you’re worried about whether your claims will appropriately process on Oct. 1, 2014, fret no more.

You’ll get to test out your ICD-10 coding skills this spring with a dry run that CMS plans to offer practices who want to submit sample ICD-10 claims, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced in Nov. 1 MLN Matters article MM8465.

During the week of March 3 through March 7, 2014, your HHH Medicare Administrative Contractor will allow you to send in your test claims that include ICD-10 codes. If you have difficulty processing the claims, you’ll be able to contact the help desk to figure out what went wrong. In addition, you will get electronic acknowledgement of your test claims that will tell you whether they were accepted or rejected.

After the testing period ends, CMS will share information about the percentage of test claims that were accepted versus rejected, and will offer additional information about lessons learned during the testing period.

To read more about the ICD-10 test dates, visit www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNMattersArticles/Downloads/MM8465.pdf.