It has been a whole month since the ICD-10 changeover. How did everyone fair? The challenges of learning and training employees can be difficult especially with such a significant change.
With over 141,000 ICD-10 codes it is impossible to memorize every one of them. Knowing where to start is imperative to getting the correct diagnosis for your patient. Do you have to right resources available to you? Which ICD-10 coding books are you currently using? Is your therapy company consulting with you on before treating your patients? At RHD some of the Consultants prefer to use the AAPC 2016 Clinical Modification ICD-10-CM Complete Code Set Book. This is the most up-to-date book. It is a fantastic resource to have in the office.
To date, Medicare has been accepting non-specific ICD-10 codes as promised due to the changeover of systems. But this is only a temporary patch and all providers are expected to have a more specific ICD-10 code for their patients in order to receive reimbursement from their patient’s payer. Remember to keep excellent documentation on all patients/charting.
If you or your biller are having issues with coding or finding the correct codes for ICD-9 to ICD-10, try using a Cross Walk System like http://icd10cmcode.com/icd9to10conversion.php, which is free or there are other paid versions.
