ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Step by step process puts you ahead of the game.

1. Identify staff training needs and complete the necessary training.

2. Design programs to help you begin parallel coding with ICD-9 and ICD-10 for current ED cases to provide feedback to providers well in advance of go-live dates.

3. Forget extensive classroom training for providers. Teach them the essentials of documentation through individualized chart critique and ongoing feedback.

4. Begin the process of identifying YOUR most common diagnoses and how the will be coded with ICD-10.

5. Arrange for assistance with coder training for YOUR system--using YOUR records, critiquing YOUR current documentation issues and identifying best (and worst) documentation practices and solutions.

6. Design reporting mechanisms for coders to use to provide feedback and suggestions to providers.

7. Conduct internal testing to make sure you can generate transactions you send with the ICD-10 codes.

8. Conduct external testing with your clearinghouses and payers to make sure you can send and receive transactions with the ICD-10 codes.

In spite of what you may be hearing, it will take considerably longer than six months to ramp up provider documentation, coder expertise and system integration to assure a smooth transition. Without planning and focus, coding experts predict that your coding and audit production could be cut by IN HALF for 4-6 months AFTER the October 1, 2013 "go live" date. Thus income and expenses with be dramatically affected by the implementation, warns Edelberg.