Starting October 1, hospitals and other healthcare providers were supposed to switch to the ICD-10 insurance codes instead of using the ICD-9 insurance codes. Any services that were performed prior to October 1, 2015, should have been billed using the old ICD-9 codes, but any services that were performed by hospitals and other healthcare providers on October 1 or later should have been billed using the ICD-10 codes. The ICD-10 codes will be the appropriate codes to use for billing going forward.
The transition to ICD-10 may be complicated for some hospitals and other healthcare providers, especially because there are many new codes that exist under the ICD-10 that did not previously exist under the ICD-9. The expanded library of insurance codes is intended to provide much more specificity when it comes to determining what a patient is being treated for. The codes may also require hospitals to indicate whether the treatment is initial treatment or follow-up treatment.
If your hospital has not yet transitioned to ICD-10 or is having a difficult time making the transition, you should consider getting help from a consultant with experience. HealthTECH Resources can provide the assistance you need with the transition. Contact us today.