How can your practice make the best use of icd 10 delay

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How Can your Practice Make the Best Use
of ICD-10 Delay?
ICD-10 compliance date has been extended to October 2015 and while some
doctors are disheartened with the delay others are happy. This extension will
help practices to prepare better for the implementation of the additional codes
ready to be set next year. Due to health care reforms providers have been
affected by – various regulatory changes, investment of significant amount of
time and monetary resources for compliance and not getting paid on time. Since
ICD-10 implementation has been pushed to 2015, unprepared practices will be
able to utilize this period for making necessary changes such as upgrading
technology and training their staff.

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The delay was disappointing for practices and vendors who worked hard to meet
the 2014 deadline. However if they stop preparing for ICD-10 altogether it will
have negative effects on their Revenue Cycle Management (RCM). The key is to
utilize the delay and keep preparing; look for gaps if any in the staff training,
system upgrades, readiness of vendors including practice management (PM),
electronic health records (EHR), availing services or expert advice from billing
companies.
Unprepared practices have got a breather with the extension of ICD-10 deadline.
It has provided sufficient time for unprepared and prepared practices to identify
gaps in training, coding and system upgrades. Providers should be able to convert
this into their advantage and be ready for the new codes. It will give them

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enough time to rethink of any changes that can improve claim submission post
ICD-10 implementation.
 The delay should be used in improving quality reporting so that when ICD-
10 is finally implemented the new set of codes can be used to its full
specificity
 This extension for implementing ICD-10 can also be used to meet goals
related to financial outcomes and new delivery payment models
throughout healthcare communities

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 Healthcare practices can also utilize this period to stay proactive with
communities and nationwide programs in order to have a successful
future in the healthcare industry
 Physicians, hospitals and all other healthcare facility can organize and
monitor the training and implementation process of ICD-10. This will help
the staff understand the complexities of the same
 Providers should contact vendors and double check with the electronic
medical record (EMR) system, management system and clearinghouses to
see if they are compatible to the new set of codes

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 The delay can be used for submitting ‘test’ claims to each payer; it will
help determine if the systems are ready to submit claims post ICD-10
 Training for providers can be arranged in the meanwhile. This will give
them exposure to ICD-10 system details and ensure error free
documentation in future
 The time gap of over a year now can be used to start improving the
documentation requirements of ICD-10 because billing and collection can
be enhanced only through complete documentation

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 Providers can focus on ICD-9 and ICD-10 guidelines to reduce the
occurrence of medical necessity denials
To make sure ICD-10 does not affect reimbursements many providers choose
billing companies like MedicalBillersandCoders.com for their billing and coding
requirements. This saves them the trouble of hiring or training existing staff,
upgrading their systems, or worry about HIPAA compliance and other reforms. As
a result, practices do not have to invest in health IT as experts in MBC make use
of the latest technology and software to handle your RCM.

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Related Posts:
 How Can Outsourcing Solve Medical Billing and Reimbursement
Challenges for Physicians in 2014?
 5 Factors to Evaluate Performance of your Medical Billing Company
 How can Coders Prepare themselves for Challenges Post ICD-10?
 In a Diminishing Market, Coding Seems to be a way out!

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