A last-minute guide to the ICD-9 to ICD-10 transition

Editor's note

Beginning on Oct. 1, 2015, the U.S. healthcare industry must cease using ICD-9 codes to categorize and document patient treatment and convert to the larger ICD-10 code set. The American version of the newer coding set, ICD-10-CM, consists of 68,000 codes -- a dramatic increase from the 13,000 codes that make up ICD-9-CM. Some providers readied their practices to make the transition to ICD-10 by the previous 2014 deadline, while others took the second delay as an opportunity to perform more coding tests and evaluate their staffs' readiness. There remain providers that are unsure it will be business as usual for their practice post-ICD-10 implementation. In this guide, IT experts explain which healthcare facilities are feeling the pressure of moving from ICD-9 to ICD-10 and how they got in that position.

Not everyone is feeling trapped by ICD-10. To aid providers converting from ICD-9 to ICD-10, CMS announced that for the first year after the ICD-10 implementation date, providers won't be charged with improper coding as long as a valid code from the proper code family -- if not the specific code -- is used. The stories in this guide illustrate exactly how providers arranged all aspects of their medical and business workflows to apply to ICD-10, complete with specific examples and tips from hospital CIOs.