ICD-10: What To Do Now with the Extra Year

Written by Ronny Bachrach on August 28, 2014. Posted in Digital Radiography and PACS, PACS, Software

Health care providers pondered the impact of ICD-10 for many months leading up to the passing of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014. The legislation resulted in a year-long delay of the code set, extending its implementation date to Oct. 1, 2015.

While the added time has been met with mixed reactions, it is important that diagnostic imaging professionals be careful not to fall behind on readiness. ICD-10 will have affect many aspects of health care, including changing workflows for radiology practices. Successful transitions will be determined by providers' abilities to ensure that all staff members of the facility are prepared and educated in the new diagnostic codes.

According to Radiology Today, the health information that radiologists require from referring physicians will drastically change. ICD-10 calls for higher specificity, increasing the amount of data needed to order the appropriate exam. Radiologists will have to acquire much greater health histories for individual patients when scheduling procedures to properly bill them for the services. However, referring doctors are not alone in needing to improve their clinical coding knowledge.

Radiologists have to be far more specific and detailed in their documentation efforts than ever before. Coding for completed exams must comply with ICD-10 formatting to ensure uninterrupted reimbursements. It will depend on whether an individual is an inpatient or outpatient because this status will decide which branch of ICD-10 – PCS or CM – will apply. For example, if a patient undergoes the same exam twice, both as an inpatient and outpatient, the procedures will be coded differently. As a result, PACS will have to be capable of handling the varying codes.

Failure to include the appropriate codes can lead to possible loss of revenue. Therefore, it is imperative that medical imaging practices adequately prepare for implementation.

What to do now
To maintain readiness, practices need to ensure that certain requirements are met internally. Front office administrators need to know what to look for on imaging orders from referring physicians and be able to identify why the procedure is needed, Diagnostic Imaging explained. If any information is missing, they have to know who to seek out to fill in the data gaps.

Technicians have to be made aware of the detail involved in ICD-10 when it comes to ordering exams. Any incoming information must be added to the radiology report following the completion of the procedure. Similarly, radiologists will need to become more familiar with the new data that is created by ICD-10 and focus on their documentation abilities.

Finally, internal coders will need to be more vigilant in reviewing submitted information to ensure that all necessary categories are filled and procedures are coded correctly. Their knowledge of ICD-10 must be intimate, and they may need to obtain new certifications that exhibit their understanding of the updated code set.

While the ICD-10 transition may be time consuming, there are many clinical benefits that it can bring to digital imaging. Improving readiness now will make future changes to the practice's workflow much easier. The specificity will result in better quality of care and reductions in repeated exams as radiologists can clearly see what procedures have been conducted before ordering another.

Contact Viztek for more information.

Ronny Bachrach

Ronny Bachrach

Marketing Director at Viztek LLC
Responsible for all marketing activities including, press, advertising, trade show coordination, website management, dealer and customer communications.
Ronny Bachrach
Don't be selfish share with your friends...
Share on LinkedIn0Share on Google+0Share on Facebook0Tweet about this on TwitterEmail this to someoneBuffer this page
Sign up for our Newsletter

Contact Details