The Future of ICD-9-CM  

Category: ICD-10

By Brenda Edwards

Some industry professionals believe we won't need ICD-9-CM books after the October 1, 2014 implementation of ICD-10. That is simply not true. Here are a few reasons you should keep your ICD-9-CM on the shelf:

Think about all the claims that will need to be filed that weren't entered into the billing system before the code set change. If you use ICD-10-CM codes on claims prior to 10/1/2014, the service will be denied.

Think about the hospital stays that overlap from September to October of 2014. Since ICD-10-CM is date of service driven, you will still need to access ICD-9-CM for a long time. Did you know you can either submit the services prior to October 1 with ICD-9-CM codes or wait until the patient is discharged to submit a hospital stay that began prior to 10/1/2014, and submit all dates with ICD-10-CM codes?

Think about the cla...