Preparing for ICD-10

AHIMA believes an implementation plan established and begun well in advance of a scheduled implementation date is necessary to ensure a successful transition to ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS. A key to successful planning is the timeliness of training and other activities. For example, it would be impractical and a waste of resources and time to start training coders now on the specific updates to the code sets. Coders should be trained much closer to the 2013 implementation date so the updates are fresh when they need to start using them.

Transitioning to ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS is more complex than implementation of new code sets in the past because the uses of coded data are more complex than those for which ICD-9-CM was designed. Early preparation using a phased approach has proven to be the key to success in countries where ICD-10 is currently in use. It also allows for resource allocation over a number of years, rather than all at once.

AHIMA has developed a comprehensive plan to get you from today all the way through to October 2013. The first phase is the impact assessment, where the impact of the code set updates is evaluated and key objectives and tasks are identified. For the complete outline of steps that AHIMA recommends, read AHIMA’s ICD-10 Preparation Checklist.

These additional resources can help further your plans:

• AHIMA Education and Training Opportunities
• Role-based Model for ICD-10 Implementation
• Purposes of Classifications and Terminologies
• Networking Opportunities & Speaker Requests
• Links & Other Resources