Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

CMS systems are ready,” the agency says.

If you had any doubt that CMS is serious about transitioning to ICD-10 this October, it’s time to face reality. The latest round of ICD-10 testing reveals that most providers and processing systems are already prepared for the switch to the new diagnosis coding system, and if you’re not ready yet, it’s a good time to start prepping.

At the end of April, CMS offered practices an opportunity to participate in ICD-10 testing, and after processing 23,138 test claims, MACs’ systems accepted 88 percent of them. Among the rejected claims, only two percent had invalid ICD-10 codes, less than one percent had erroneous ICD-9 codes, and the rest of the denied claims had errors unrelated to the ICD-10 transition, such as using the wrong NPI, date of service or place of service, among other issues.

CMS is On Track to Continue

“This second end-to-end testing week demonstrated that CMS systems are ready to accept ICD-10 claims,” CMS said in a June 2 statement. The most recent 88 percent success rate was higher than the 81 percent seen in January, the agency said, suggesting that ICD-10 accuracy continues to improve.

If you’d like to be part of the next (and final) round of end-to-end testing, CMS will be offering that between July 20 and 24. After that? You’ll just have to wait until Oct. 1 for the real deal.

Resource: For more information about the latest round of ICD-10 testing, visit www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/Downloads/2015-April-Testing-Results.pdf. 

---