ICD-10 News: Final ICD-9-CM Code Update

The final updates to ICD-9-CM codes will take effect on October 1, 2013. These updates will be in effect until the ICD-10 transition takes place on October 1, 2014. You can find the last official ICD-9-CM code titles, both full and abbreviated, posted on the CMS website. 

“For those of us who have been maintaining ICD-9-CM codes since the code set’s implementation in 1979, this final ICD-9-CM code update is a historic occasion,” said Pat Brooks of the CMS Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group. “We look forward to the implementation and maintenance of ICD-10 in 2014.”

Keep Up to Date on ICD-10
Visit the CMS ICD-10 website for the latest news and resources to help you prepare for the October 1, 2014, deadline. Sign up for CMS ICD-10 Industry Email Updates and follow us on Twitter.

Don’t miss CORHIO’s FINAL Meaningful Use boot camp scheduled for September 27 in the Denver Tech Center

This will be the last Meaningful Use Boot Camp offered by CORHIO, so don’t miss out!
Attend and learn what’s already changed and what will change with the Meaningful Use Incentive Program. Find out what you need to know about current HIT initiatives in Colorado. Read the full description and register here.

As federally funded Health IT training draws to a close, what are other options?

The federally funded HITECH Workforce Training is drawing to a close as the project ends September 30, 2013. To continue the opportunities for education, the following are options available at no cost:

OPTION 1
The entire HITECH curriculum can be downloaded from:

Health IT Workforce Curriculum Components National Training and Dissemination Center
http://www.onc-ntdc.org/training On left, "create new account"

OPTION 2
Bellevue College has developed self paced modules based on this curriculum that are available on the National Training & Education Resource website https://www.nterlearning.org/home - do a search for Bellevue.....it will take you not only to this option but also CAHIMS Exam Preparation and all of Bellevue's courses both collectively and individually.

Final HHS Health IT Safety Plan Issued Today

The HHS Health IT Patient Safety Action and Surveillance Plan was issued today. The Safety Plan addresses the role of health IT in helping to eliminate medical errors, protect patients and improve the quality and safety of health care.

The Safety Plan is implemented by ONC. It outlines the responsibilities to be shared across HHS and details significant participation from the private sector.
ONC will make it easier for clinicians to report health IT-related incidents and hazards through the use of certified electronic health record technology.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will encourage reporting to Patient Safety Organizations and will develop ambulatory Common Formats that will enhance reporting of health IT events outside the hospital.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will encourage the use of the Common Formats in hospital incident reporting systems, and train surveyors to identify safe and unsafe practices associated with health IT.
Working through a public-private process, ONC will develop priorities for improving the safety of health IT. ONC and CMS will consider adopting safety-related objectives, measures, and capabilities for certified electronic health records (EHRs) through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs and ONC’s standards and certification criteria. 

ONC also has posted guidance clarifying that ONC-Authorized Certification Bodies (ONC-ACBs) will be expected to verify whether safety-related capabilities work properly in live clinical settings in which they are implemented. 

Finally, under a new ONC contract, The Joint Commission will be working to better detect and proactively address potential health IT-related safety issues across a variety of health care settings. More information about the Health IT Patient Safety Action and Surveillance Plan, the ONC-ACB surveillance guide and the new project with The Joint Commission can all be found at the Health IT and Patient Safety webpage.

Colorado ICD-10 Task Force – Summer Classes Near You

http://coruralhealth.org/blog/ICD10RoadShowFlyer2013.pdf

Rural Health Open Door Forum

The Rural Health Open Door Forum (ODF) addresses Rural Health Clinic (RHC), Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) issues, as well as some inclusion of other questions and concerns that occur in clinical practice pertaining to other CMS payment systems that also extend into these settings. Topics that frequently arise on this forum often deal with payment & billing for services subject to Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and/or Physician Shortage Area (PSA) status, cost report clarifications, classifications for & qualifications of rural provider types, and the many special provisions being implemented for improving rural health in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Timely announcements and clarifications regarding important rulemaking, quality program initiatives, and other related areas are also included in the Forums.

CMS is hosting a series of EHR Incentive Program related national calls. The calls will take place on July 23, 2013, July 24, 2013 & August 15, 2013. Click here for more information.

MEDICAID AUDIT ANNOUNCEMENT

Many of our members who attested for Medicaid Meaningful Use have received a letter by email that seems like you are being audited!

This letter is not an audit!!! Colorado HCPF sent out letters to all Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals that attested last year to introduce the auditing company and give everyone an idea of what will be expected if you are selected for audit. The letters also states that Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals will be contacted directly by the audit company if they’ve been selected and will be given a list of audit items. To view the letter click here

If you are selected for an audit please let the team who helped you attest know.

For any questions email David Ginsberg, Senior Advisor at dg@coruralhealth.org