Is Delaying ICD-10 Good for Chiropractic?

Chiropractors have fought for years to get their claims paid. The payment problem has often been due to the lack of supporting diagnosis codes. With ICD-10-CM, Chiropractors will have hundreds of new codes to use to better document patient diagnoses. Perhaps delaying the implementation of ICD-10 from October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014 is not good for Chiropractic? 

If you agree, submit your comment to CMS and let them know how you feel about this proposed delay. But do it right away. The comment period ends in just over a week from now, on May 17th, 2012.

We hope you look at both the pros and cons of the proposed delay and submit a comment. If you are worried about implementing ICD-10-CM in your office, ChiroCode Institute has some wonderful tools to help you, including the new ChiroCode Complete and Easy ICD-10 Coding for Chiropractic.

May 17th Is Coming Quickly

The 30-day comment period ends at 5:00 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012. This comment period allows you to provide very important feedback to HHS about this proposed compliance date change, which will affect many aspects of your organization. 

Remember:

• All HIPAA-covered entities must transition to ICD-10-CM to ensure there is a smooth transition between provider organizations and trading partners, which will help to avoid rejected claims and provider payment delays.
• Delaying the compliance date for ICD-10-CM, as proposed in this rule, will give providers and other covered entities more time to prepare and fully test their systems to ensure a smooth and coordinated transition among all industry segments. 
• Without the expanded codes for diagnoses that ICD-10 provides, chiropractic providers will continue to be forced to code imprecisely. 

Sound Off!

Let the rule makers know your position on delaying ICD-10. Comments may be submitted in the following ways:

• Electronically, by following the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions on the www.regulations.gov website
• By regular mail sent to:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS–0040–P
P.O. Box 8013
Baltimore, MD 21244–8013