Making ICD-10 transition easier, efficient and meaningful

By now medical practices must have realized that the transition to ICD-10 means more than just learning a new code set and upgrading the existing software. As medical practices embark on the transition to a more radical system of clinical and operational regimen, the deadline for which is set at October 1, 2013, they are slowly but surely beginning to realize its impact and scope. The ICD-10, the seed for which was sown decade ago, is deliberate policy change by the Federal Health Department seeking to usher in radical change in clinical, operational and revenue aspects of healthcare industry as a whole. As practices begin to feel the impact of the transition, albeit for the elevation of the quality of medical care, they would invariably have to react with congruent changes to their clinical, operational and revenue functionalities. Such comprehensive modification would entail sprucing up each and every segment of clinical practices, beginning with:

• Physicians requiring to upgrading their coding knowledge to a more exhaustive ICD-1O system

• Support Staff to be knowledgeable of new format and filing for documenting clinical and operational encounters

• Clinical documentation incongruence with the new HIPAA-5010 version

• Medical Billing in compliance with the policies and procedure of ICD-10-CM code set

• Coding diverse medical procedures as per the ICD-10 mandate

• Conversant with changes in policies and procedures affecting medical insurance claims with the Medicare as well as private health insurer

• Managerial policies with respect to EHR implementation for PQRS compliant medical service delivery, budgetary revision accommodating training and software expenditure for orienting staff to the new system, managing vendor and payer contracts, etc.

• Orienting the front desk to the revised system of documenting patient registration and admission for clinical maintenance

As practices feel the overwhelming proportion of the task, they would rather well-off considering outsourcing the transition to the providers that are credible and competent. Medicalbillersandcoders.com (www.medicalbillersandcoders.com) – by virtue of being the largest consortium for medical billing Revenue Cycle Management in the U.S – possesses the requisite credibility and competence for making medical practices’ transition to ICD-1O easier, efficient and meaningful.