Fall 2009

Start preparing now for the ICD-10 transition

The Department of Health and Human Services has announced an implementation date of October 1, 2013, for the transition to the new ICD-10 code set standards from the current ICD-9 coding system and January 1, 2012, for the transition to version 5010 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-Administrative Simplification (HIPAA-AS) standard electronic transactions. All standard covered HIPAA-AS electronic transactions are changing including claims, eligibility and claim status inquiries, referral and authorization requests and remittance advices.

The American Health Information Management Association offers an ICD-10 preparation checklist to help health care organizations begin planning for the transition. You can download the checklist at http://www.ahima.org/icd10/ICD-10PreparationChecklist.mht.

For additional information related to ICD-10, go to www.cms.hhs.gov/ICD10.