ICD-10 Implementation Strategies

We will be sharing a number of strategies to help your practice successfully implement ICD-10-CM. Please remember to track your progress in your ICD-10 Implementation Tracker on AAPC’s website.
Documentation Improvement
As we get closer to the implementation date for ICD-10, it is important to continue to work with physicians and other providers on documentation improvement. The staff may be very knowledgeable about the new code set and how to use it, but if the documentation does not include the specificity necessary, the conditions will not be reported correctly.
Assess the top codes used in your practice and look at how they are different in ICD-10. Then, put together education for your physicians and other providers based on those differences. There cannot be improvement in the documentation without specific instruction on how it has to change. Keep it brief, keep it to the point, keep it on the documentation (not the codes). This should be a continual process, now that we are in the countdown year.

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Brad Ericson

Director of Publishing at AAPC

Brad Ericson, MPC, CPC, COSC, is a seasoned healthcare writer and editor.He directed publishing at AAPC for nearly 12 years and worked at Ingenix for 13 years and Aetna Health Plans prior to that. He has been writing and publishing about healthcare since 1979. He received his Bachelor's in Journalism from Idaho State University and his Master's of Professional Communication degree from Westminster College of Salt Lake City.

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