Eli's Hospice Insider

Good: You're going to like the new code set, which includes 2011 diagnoses.

If you're like most hospice providers, the thought of converting to ICD-10 is daunting.

But the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hoping to make the transition a bit easier, has posted new diagnosis coding crosswalks on its website. Formerly referred to as the GEMs (General Equivalent Mappings), the crosswalks allow you to look up your current ICD-9 code and determine which code set you'll use instead when ICD-10 debuts.

CMS is quick to point out that the crosswalk does not contain exact translations. Instead, the files "attempt to organize those differences in a meaningful way, by linking a code to all valid alternatives in the other code set from which choices can be made, depending on the use to which the code is put," the agency's Crosswalk User's Guide says.

For instance: All the codes currently in the 010.90-010.96 range (Primary tuberculosis infection...) will translate into the singular code A15.7 (Primary respiratory tuberculosis) under ICD-10.

On the other hand, the current ICD-9 code 115.11 (Histoplasma duboisii meningitis) will crosswalk to a "combination entry" in ICD-10, meaning you'll have to report both B39.5 (Histoplasmosis duboisii) and G02 (Meningitis in other infectious and parasitic diseases classified elsewhere).

Resource: The new crosswalks, which include 2011 ICD-9 codes, are at http://www.cms.gov/ICD10/11b1_2011_ICD10CM_and_GEMs.asp.