Sunday, October 06, 2013

ICD-10: Get Ready Now

Like it or not, ICD-10 is coming.  I just came back from a meeting and let me tell you, ICD10 is a bear! ICD10 is not a simple conversion of ICD-9 to the corresponding codes in ICD10.  Far from it.  ICD 10 to ICD9 is like Chinese to English.  It is a distinct and complex language of its own and while one can translate Chinese to English and vise-versa, much information gets lost in the translation when one does this.  Same with ICD9 to 10.

I recommend that you start familiarizing yourself now for ICD10.  Get the ICD10-CM book.  Take a course or courses.  Think about how you will need to update your process to accomodate this new language in your practice, because on October 1, 2014 ICD10 becomes the official language of medical finance transaction in the United States.

I'll be posting updates on my progress over the next 12 months here.  Wish me luck and good luck to you.

Dr Schoor