As ICD-10 implementation gets closer, many healthcare providers have found themselves struggling to understand the deadline. This is due largely to the fact that the set date has been pushed back several times in an effort to allow all affected parties to prepare accordingly. With that in mind, it's important to recognize that ICD-10, though seemingly far away, is a great deal closer than you think. With the ICD-10 transition date now set for Oct. 1, 2015, take a look at some key information concerning the shift:

Medical coding is a shared language that allows clinicians, insurers, and government agencies to effectively share information about a patient’s health. The coders in a plastic surgery practice use codes to communicate diagnoses and treatment procedures to payers.

Coding is the common language that allows ophthalmology clinicians, insurance companies, and government agencies to share and understand information about a patient’s health.

ICD-10 codes enable dermatology clinics, insurance companies, and government agencies to share information about a patient’s condition. They organize a tremendous number of dermatology diagnoses into a standardized format all three stakeholders can understand. ICD-10 stands for the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, created and maintained by the World Health Organization. WHO further divides diagnoses into ICD-10-CM (primarily used in outpatient and clinical settings) and ICD-10-PCS (primarily used in inpatient and hospital settings). Just as ICD-10 codes classify diseases, CPT codes classify procedures. Coders in a dermatology practice need to be well trained in both coding languages. Note: This content has been updated since the original publish date.

The International Classification of Diseases 10th edition consists of two distinct codes sets: ICD-10- Clinical Modification (CM) for diagnosis codes and ICD-10-Procedure Coding System (PCS) for procedure codes. In this article, we will focus specifically on ICD-10-PCS and how its procedure codes will impact specialty-specific practices.

For a number of years, many in the healthcare industry have been frightened off by the highly overstated cost estimates for the implementation of ICD-10. Some estimates predicted the costs of this change at as high as approximately $85,000… for even a small practice with as few as three doctors. These sorts of very expensive-seeming cost estimates for ICD-10 implementation have played a big hand in the reason why so many healthcare professionals continue to resist it.

The ICD-10 transition should involve a multi-pronged strategy on how to fully adopt and implement ICD-10-CM in your specialty practice less than 9 months from now. The scope and breadth of that strategy depends on the size of medical practices; obviously larger practices have more time-intensive preparations to look forward to than small or medium-sized practices. One of the critical steps in ICD-10 preparation is starting to work in ICD-10 prior to the October 1, 2015 deadline.

This past December, shortly before adjourning for 2014, Congress passed an “Omnibus” federal funding bill—the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015. Slipped into the bill was a provision to further delay the implementation of ICD-10. Various lobbies and special interest groups, on both sides of the ICD-10 debate, had already been hitting Congress with a barrage of letters (arguing their opposing points of view) during the latter months of 2014. Opponents of ICD-10 had hoped to use the appropriations bill to further delay the final implementation by as long as two years. Supporters of ICD-10, however, argued that another delay would be both unnecessary and costly.