ICD 10 — 3 Productivity Tips for Medical Coders

A month away from now, ICD-10 implementation will become official and all indications suggest that October 1 will be the day that finally matters for the code set conversion. It has been a long time coming and now that the deadline is closing in quickly, the persistent question remains: Exactly how ready are providers for ICD-10?

ICD 10 Codes

The following is an excerpt from Tom Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare IT News.

Among the concerns that the mandated transition to ICD-10 brings is a widespread expectation that medical coders will essentially drop off a cliff, productivity-wise, once the compliance deadline arrives. ICD-10’s greater specificity and more numerous codes, the thinking goes, will make it trickier and more time consuming for physicians and clinicians to find exactly what they need.

To that end, the American Health Information Management Association, in a Journal of AHIMA article, offered three tactics for maintaining productive coding after Oct. 1, 2015, and while these may seem obvious they are nonetheless worth considering if you’ve not already.

1. Training. “This is not just a one-day or week intensive education session,” AHIMA explained. Instead, healthcare entities should provide coders continuous opportunities to practice ICD-10; dual-coding is one option. “It may not be practice to dual-code every chart but even just a couple charts per day is better than nothing at all.”

2. Hire more coders. No one said ICD-10 was going to be easy – or inexpensive. Maintaining the same level of coding productivity you had with ICD-9 might demand more manpower. AHIMA recommends two places to look for new hires: contract coding companies and community college programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education.

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ICD 10 Online Training with CCO

ICD 10 Online – Strengthen your ICD 10 Knowledge

Certification Coaching Organization (CCO) has prepared icd 10 online trainings or hands-on workshops, certification, refresher  webinars, and online assessment bundles to help  you prepare for the October 1 ICD-10 compliance date.  Strengthen your knowledge with a product from CCO:

• ICD-10-CM Full Course
• ICD-10-CM Blitz Course
• Free ICD-10-CM Practice Exam
• ICD-10-CM Practice Exam
• ICD-10 Coding Practicum with Practicode
• ICD-10-PCS Course
• Q&A Webinar Replay Club

2016 ICD 10 Guidelines

To download the ICD 10 guidelines, ICD-10-CM/PCS codes, ICD 10 tables and indexes, reimbursement mappings, and more for the year 2016, click the link below:

What Is ICD 10 — The 2016 ICD-10 Codes & Guidelines

Related ICD 10 Articles:

• ICD 10 Proficiency Assessment – Are You Ready? July 2015
• How to Master ICD 10 — 3 Preparation Tips
• ICD 10 Training — 4 Things You Need To Know