Tag: ICD-10

CMS: Are you familiar with their newsletters and eLists?

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Since I was once a Medicare provider, I have long received newsletters from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Several years ago, they started to make major improvements to their websites offering large quantities of information for both providers and consumers of services. I am not sure how I wound up on an email list, but I now received regular information about a variety of topics related to healthcare and CMS.

While all healthcare providers need this information, we have found that behavioral health providers are often out of the information loop. Unfortunately, under most laws, HIPAA included, ignorance of a law and its requirements offers you no protection from the law. If you have not already done so, it might be time to begin to inform yourself about various subjects related to Medicare.

The number of topics available is outstanding.

I subscribe to both the CMS Industry ICD-10 Update and to the Caregiver eNewsletter. I find both resources quite useful.

 

 

If you would like to stay informed on any topics for which CMS is responsible just sign up for one of their eLists. Once you start receiving information on one topic, you can determine if it is useful and manage your preferences for the updates you receive.

Which of these lists are among those to which you subscribe? Please share your preferences!

 

 

 

Mental Health and e-Health News Bits

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Running a mental health practice or community organization is a demanding endeavor and probably gets in the way of reading some of the huge volumes of info out there. I just thought I would share some quick bits and pieces of information you might find useful.

1.   ICD-10 Update: Last October 31, I posted information about an October 2011 deadline for implementing the ICD-10. HHS has relented and set a new deadline of October 1, 2013 for adoption of the diagnosis and procedure system.  The code sets are complete and available for your information at the HHS web site. An informational document will give you the scoop.

(Reported in Healthcare Informatics on January 16, 2009.)

2. Community Partnership of Southern Arizona has links on their website that many will find useful. They have collected state-by-state information on the following 19 items for all 50 states: Mental Health Authority, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), Mental Health America, Protection and Advocacy,  2-1-1 Human and Emergency Services, Employment Services, Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Medicaid Authority, Housing Authority, Homeless Information, Food Bank Locator, Food Stamp Program, Resources for Individuals with Disabilities, Psychiatric Advance Directives, Suicide Prevention, Civil Commitment Statutes, National Council: Providers, National Council: State Association, Child Welfare Information, and Department of Education.

3.  Evidence Based Practice Toolkits are available from SAMHSA. Six toolkits are currently available for public use. If you have been considering implementation of EBP in your organization, these toolkits are a good place to begin.

(Reported in the January 15, NJAMHA Newswire.)

4. HIPAA: I have come upon a wonderful way to keep up with and understand all things HIPAA-related. Hipaa.com is a web site devoted to education about HIPAA and has some outstanding articles. You can subscribe to their blog and follow them on Twitter.

What would you like us to discuss in this space? Are there kinds of information that are more useful than others? Let us know which topics you find most important.

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Mental Health Billing and the ICD-10

Posted on | by SOS Blog | 9 Comments on Mental Health Billing and the ICD-10

Back in August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted a proposed rule requiring the implementation of the portion of HIPAA that mandates use of the ICD-10 by October 2011. The International Classification of Diseases-10 was endorsed by the 43rd World Health Assembly in 1990 and was implemented by many World Health Organization (WHO) member states as early as 1994. The United States is 14 years behind the curve on use of this updated version of the ICD, the list of diagnoses used in all medical billing. As more healthcare organizations implement electronic medical records (EMRs) ICD diagnostic codes are used ever more widely, but at present payment for health services is still the most important function of these codes in the U.S.

There was an immediate outcry from provider and payer organizations that the 2011 date was too soon. The Medical Group Management Association, the American Medical Association and America’s Health Insurance Plans registered objections with HHS over the implementation date indicating that the costs would be too great for providers and payers, especially given the recently completed and very costly implementation of the NPI (National Provider Identifier).  But now, the American Hospital Association has supported the 2011 date suggesting that the potential gains from use of the ICD-10 are too great to wait any longer to implement the new codes.

We know the pain that has been experienced by customers of Synergistic Office Solutions in adopting the NPI and continuing to get paid for services rendered. Our software has been able to handle the NPI since early 2007, but some of our customers still struggle with the confusion caused by this transition.  While software can be made ready for the ICD-10 without very much difficulty, we are concerned about how this change will be handled in the real world by psychologists and psychiatrists and social workers who are accustomed to using the DSM-IV and ICD-9 for diagnoses for mental health conditions.

What do you think about a move to ICD-10? Do you expect this next round of changes required by HIPAA to be simple? to be problematic? What do you expect the impact will be for your organization and how do you plan to handle it? What is the best way for vendors of mental health billing software and medical billing software, medical EMRs and behavioral health EMRs to assist providers in implementing the new ICD-10 codes? Let us know what you think. We want to help make this new transition as smooth as possible.