Officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sought to assure physicians that the agency is on track for a smooth transition to ICD-10 on Oct. 1.
“We have proven that our claims processing center will be able to accept claims without any problems, and [the claims] will be paid,” Dr. William Rogers, ICD-10 ombudsman at CMS, said in a press conference Sept. 24.
Dr. Patrick H. Conway, CMS principal deputy administrator, added that real-time monitoring of the switch will take place so that the agency can “investigate and address issues as they come in through the ICD-10 coordination center.”
Dr. Rogers and Dr. Conway outlined a number of resources available to assist with the transition:
• General information is available is available at the Road to ICD-10 and www.cms.gov/ICD10.
• Should a problem or concern arise, turn first to your billing vendor or clearinghouse.
• Next, reach out to your Medicare administrative contractor (MAC).
• Questions and concerns can be emailed to the ICD-10 Coordination Center at icd10@cms.hhs.gov.
• If there are still issues, email the ICD-10 ombudsman’s office at icd10_ombudsbman@cms.hhs.gov.Both Dr. Rogers and Dr. Conway downplayed concerns about whether stalled congressional budget negotiations, potentially leading to a government shutdown, would have any impact on the ICD-10 transition. They emphasized that patients will receive the same services on Oct. 1, when ICD-10 officially kicks off, as they did the day before.
Data on claims processing under ICD-10 will be available after one full billing cycle is complete, which should be about 30 days, Dr. Conway said.
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