encouraged, but not required, to become ICD-10 compliant. While some states are requiring these payors to transition to ICD-10, others are not. as a result, you likely will continue to use ICD-9 codes for at least some payors after October 1, 2014. It will be important to talk with your practice management system vendor and clearinghouse to ensure that your systems can accommodate both ICD-9 and ICD-10 code sets. Myth 3: The GEMs were developed to provide help in coding medical records. Cms developed the general equivalence mappings (gems) to help guide the industry as we convert our payment systems, coverage edits, and other databases from ICD-9 to ICD-10. While the gems are helpful to show which ICD-10 codes may correspond to existing ICD-9 codes, they are not intended to be used to code ICD-10 claims because they do not include all the necessary information for the coding process. When providers code claims, they need to refer to clinical documentation in the patient’s medical record to identify the most appropriate ICD-10 code. The ICD-10 code set has more than five times ICD-9’s number of codes, so the detail in the patient record will provide the specificity coders need to choose the correct code. Considering these three common myths, it is clear that misleading information could have a serious impact on providers’ ICD-10 readiness. Billing companies and providers should reference reliable resources, such as www.cms.gov/icd10, professional associations, and your clearinghouse and practice management software vendors, to make sure you are taking the proper steps to prepare your clients’ practices by the the deadline of October 1, 2014. Jackie Griffin is the director of client services at TriZetto Provider Solutions. For more information about preparing for ICD-10, visit www.gatewayedi.com/icd10. SOUND OFF! Give Us Your Opinion: TELL US HOW YOUR FIRST CLIENT AND YOUR LATEST CLIENT FOUND OUT ABOUT YOUR COMPANY. We’re looking for your opinion. How have these issues impacted your business? Please send responses to the email address listed below or scan the QR code at right with your smartphone! EMAIL soundoff@hbma.org by Friday, March 14, 2014 THe jOuRnal OF THe HealTHCaRe BIllIng anD managemenT assOCIaTIOn 23 Resources 1 www.cms.gov/medicare/Coding/ICD10/downloads/ICD- 10mythsandFacts.pdf 2 www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-education/Outreach/nPC/ Downloads/2013-08-22-ICD10-nPC.pdf 3 https://implementicd10.noblis.org FEATURE sTORY Billing Update! We are working hard to enhance Billing to ensure that it meets the needs of our membership, but want your input. as you see, each issue has been greatly expanded to include topics that impact the healthcare industry and our businesses. Do you have a suggestion for a future column in HBma Billing? Is there a specific topic that you would like to see covered by industry experts? Would you like to write an article? are there particular subjects that you would like published in future issues? Do you have any comments about past articles? Please offer suggested topics for Sound off! as well. We are open to any and all suggestions. Please feel free to send any comments about Billing to billing@hbma.org. Thank you!
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