News: HHS announces timeline for transition to ICD-10-CM

Target date for implementation is October 1, 2011

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Friday a proposed regulation to replace the ICD-9-CM code sets now used to report healthcare diagnoses and inpatient procedures with the more advanced ICD-10-CM code set currently used in other nations. Under the proposal, implementation will take place October 1, 2011.

A separate proposal would adopt the X12 standard, Version 5010, and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs standard, Version D.0, for electronic transactions, such as healthcare claims. According to HHS, adoption of Version 5010 is essential to use ICD-10-CM.

Nearly 30 years old, ICD-9-CM will run out of possible code combinations by next year. The present code set includes 17,000 codes, while ICD-10-CM includes more than 155,000 possible code combinations. This greater number of combinations allows ICD-10-CM to expand and keep up with new diagnoses and inpatient procedures. According to a statement on the American Health Information Management Association Web site, the United States is virtually the last industrialized country to adopt ICD-10-CM.

According to the HHS announcement, the United States would adopt ICD-10-CM for diagnosis coding and ICD-10-PCS for inpatient hospital procedure coding. The new codes would replace the ICD-9-CM volumes 1 and 2 for diagnosis coding and volume 3 for procedure codes.

Gloryanne Bryant, BS, RHIA, RHIT, CCS, senior director of coding and health information management (HIM) compliance for Catholic Healthcare West in San Francisco, and a member of the ACDIS advisory board, says having a proposed implementation date will be helpful in preparing for the transition and develop a timeline. “I’m very excited and elated that it has come to this,” she says.

The comment period for the ICD-10-CM code sets proposed rule and updated transaction standards proposed rule ends on October 21.

Note: To view the regulations, click here.