CMS has taken steps to ensure physicians don’t summarily fall victim to claims denials or audits for making innocent mistakes in coding. During the grace period which starts October 1, 2015, Medicare claims will not be denied and claims will not be audited based on coding as long as the physician submits an ICD-10 code from an appropriate family of codes. CMS is releasing additional guidance on flexibility in the auditing and quality reporting process as the medical community gains experience using the new set of codes. Physicians should be aware that after Sept. 30, Medicare will no longer accept ICD-9 codes for service. Neither will it accept claims using both ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. (Full Story)
The AAP recommends participating in ICD-10 end-to-end testing now to prepare for the transition. Ensure that your practice management system as well as your payers, billing company and clearinghouse are ready for the transition. CMS and the AAP also have a variety of tools to help!