They did it once, what’s the guarantee that they won’t do it again?

Like many physicians, I have asked myself the same question while contemplating ICD-10. Is it worth spending so much time and money in preparing for a transition that has not taken place for the last three years?

While contemplation  is not a bad thing, not doing anything while you are at it might be.  It’s not like we can hold out on implementing ICD-10 for long. It is inevitable and the US Health Industry will have to make the change. Thus, sooner or later. you will have to prepare for it.

Let’s start by listing the pros and cons for both scenarios:

If you do not prepare for the transition and it does take effect on OCT 1, 2015, you will be gambling with the overall health of your practice. CMS has predicted that ICD-10 will increase your denials by 100%. These stats are for a relatively healthy and ICD-10 prepared practice- imagine what this would be like for an unprepared one.

On the contrary if you do decide to prepare, things that you must undertake in preparation for ICD-10 are good for you; irrespective of whether the transition is on time or not. Medical specificity for treatments for example, does more good than harm, to your medical practice and your patients. Amending outdated billing practices will increase your bottom line in the future, and will protect you against many changes (other than ICD-10) affecting the medical billing industry.

Keeping this in mind, CureMD has introduced its “Road to ICD-10 Series” to tackle physician pain points in this overall transition. Subscribe to this blog for updates on all future Webinars in this series.

With less than 28 weeks before the curtain falls on ICD-9, what is your plan of action?

I will go at ICD-10 on my Own

Experts at CMS suggest that an average sized practice should give itself 18 weeks to prepare for ICD-10. You might feel that you have enough time and want to go at ICD-10 on your own, but I would suggest that you attend CureMD’s webinar “Stop Fighting Denials” to figure out ways to minimize the financial damage of ICD-10 transition. “

I am still Un-decided

For those of you who are still confused about your plan of action, CureMD recently conducted a webinar on “Should you Outsource Billing for ICD-10?”

The main agenda for this presentation was to help practices assess their readiness for the upcoming change and to suggest a way forward. Should they continue with the transition on their own, should they just switch their software vendors (EHR and Practice Management both) or should they outsource completely to a third party revenue cycle management company?

Senior Billing Manager at CureMD, Ken Edwards started the presentation by stating the exact impact that ICD-10 will have on practices. He suggested that ICD-10 transition is not about amending your billing alone, as wrongfully perceived by many, but an overall workflow change that Practices will have to undertake.

He also addressed some key questions that physicians must ask themselves right now:

Is my Vendor Prepared for ICD-10? If not, how can I tell?

Can I just use a mapping system such as GEM for ICD-10?

Can my Practice undertake the transition on its own? What are the Key Performance Indicators to help me assess that?

If I decide to outsource, what are some guidelines for selecting the right billing company for my practice?

Will providers be able to use ICD-10-CM/PCS codes on claims prior to the October 1, 2015, implementation date?

What type of training will my staff and I need?

I am not happy with my current medical billing vendor. How easy is it to shift to a new one?