Welcome to our third weekly update in conjunction with our ICD-10 Training Program.

While the last updates were specifically dedicated to assess the gigantic scope as well as the potential impact of ICD-10 on current and prospective medical billers and coders’ career stability and growth.

In this update we shall explore the necessity of ICD-10 at a time when the U.S. healthcare sector is already beset with the Federal Healthcare Reforms, the prominent ones being:

• The imminent cut to Medicare to fix the SGR anomaly
• Mandatory EHR implementation with Meaningful Use Criterion
• ACO Model of healthcare for Medicare beneficiaries

Welcome to our third weekly update in conjunction with our ICD-10 Training Program.

While the last updates were specifically dedicated to assess the gigantic scope as well as the potential impact of ICD-10 on current and prospective medical billers and coders’ career stability and growth.

In this update we shall explore the necessity of ICD-10 at a time when the U.S. healthcare sector is already beset with the Federal Healthcare Reforms, the prominent ones being:

• The imminent cut to Medicare to fix the SGR anomaly
• Mandatory EHR implementation with Meaningful Use Criterion
• ACO Model of healthcare for Medicare beneficiaries

Need for ICD 10 now!

As medical billers and coders, we are all aware that ICD system of coding diagnostic and clinical medical services has never been static but been evolutionary. From a seemingly manageable number of diseases and their appropriate codes to more than 100 thousands of diseases and their codes, we have come a long way in medical billing and coding practices.

While we have been able to manage medical billing and coding on ICD-9 system for a considerable time, yet we have reached the situation wherein it has become imperative to use appropriate and voluminous codes within the restrictive coding choices that ICD-9 is capable to offer. Having seen millions of dollars being eroded from Medicare and other insurance funds for being persistent with ICD-9 system, the Federal Government, without any choice, has finally decided to move over to ICD-10. With advances in Healthcare diseases and diagnosis the scope of ICD itself is becoming redundant without a serious revamp to the system.

In the past the purpose of having a coding system basically had 2 major reasons:

1. Researchers using it to discuss specific diseases
2. The coding system forms an alpha numerical system for payers to decipher simpler payment methodologies to either accept or reject the claim

Both these reasons further explain why ICD 10 is the need of the hour, researchers are exploring variation in diseases and want to communicate universally while payers with the large number of claims to handle look for specification in diagnosis and treatment. We the forerunners of healthcare delivery need to compliment the changes in the industry and be open to learning and evolving ourselves.

Benefits of ICD-10 now!

While ICD-10 itself is not a novel concept – several other countries have been using it for as long as a decade, and the policy for adoption was formulated as early as 1993 in U.S – yet, for strange reasons, it had to be delayed till date. Besides being the need of the hour, ICD-10 is also seen as the foundation for another possible elevation to ICD-11 in 2015. Therefore, there is every reason for not delaying but implementing ICD-1O right now.

Knowing the efficacy of implementing ICD-10, let us know the multiple benefits that ICD-10 has potentially to offer:

• Increased use of automated tools to facilitate the coding process
• Decreased claims submission or claims adjudication costs
• Fewer rejected and improper reimbursement claims
• More accurate payment for new procedures
• Greater interoperability
• Decreased need for manual review of health records to meet the information needs of payers, researchers, and other data mining purposes
• Increased ability to prevent and detect healthcare fraud and abuse
• Fewer fraudulent claims
• Better understanding of new procedures, and
• Improved disease management

While ICD-10 carries a comprehensive intent to streamline the healthcare industry as a whole, you, medical billers and coders can expect to be stable and growing in your respective careers as the projection is an unprecedented opportunities in medical billing and coding under the ICD-10 system.

As you embark on a fulfilling medical billing and coding profession in the ICD-10 system, we promise you that our unique training program for orientation to ICD-10 will prove to be highly complementing with timely knowledge sharing and dissemination through webinars, interactive forums and learning materials. Therefore, while we welcome you to realize your medical billing and career aspirations, we also request you to spread the good word amongst your peers and friends.

Note: Watch out for next update: Is certification required for ICD-10?