The impending ICD-10 coding classification transition is affecting all healthcare providers, but physicians are experiencing concerns that are more personal. Even though the delay was postponed until October 2014, physicians are concerned about the financial impact this new billing code system will have on their cash flow and reimbursements.
The new ICD-10 system includes about 155,000 medical codes, compared with about 17,000 in ICD-9. Modern Medicine brought this news to our attention in their article, “Physician practices still sweating ICD-10 transition despite deadline delay.” Their concerns are valid. Medical coding requires specialized expertise and systems tailored to the regulatory requirements in which health care providers, hospitals, and doctors deliver their services.
Access Innovations, Inc., a leader in data integrity and content creation, has announced its newest business endeavor, Access Integrity, Inc., to provide tools and services for quality assurance and validation of medical coding. Their Medical Claims Compliance system can be used to quickly and accurately validate medical coding or to locate errors in existing documentation. The cost savings are potentially huge.
Medical Claims Compliance is not just for physicians, hospitals, and their data service providers. It also includes tools that give auditors and insurers the information management tools they need to quickly identify areas of noncompliance or suspicious activity.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Data Harmony, a unit of Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
