Critical Factors of the ICD-10 Conversion

HIMSS Virtual Briefing:
Critical Factors of the ICD-10 Conversion

Date: Wednesday, August 10th
Time: 9 AM Central-3 PM Central

On October 1st, 2013, will you be ready? Ready for the sweeping impact to the ICD-10 conversion process? Ready to ensure that your organization's financial transactions will continue uninterrupted? Ready to affirm that all stakeholders, across the organization, understand the enormity of the ICD-10 conversion? Ready to equip everyone with the critical responsibilities they must accept to achieve success? And, are you ready to assure your Board of Directors that your conversion approach will result in a smooth, complete, and seamless transition?

Are you ready for ICD-10-CM?

If you don't feel ready for ICD-10-CM, then perhaps you'll want to participate in this complimentary webinar. It's a complimentary webinar because it's being sponsored by Navicure.

Learn how the transition to ICD-10-CM will impact your practice and what you can do to make the move from a system with 14,500 codes to a system with over 69,101 codes as seamless as possible.

Thursday, May 6 at 1:00 pm EDT, for a free webinar: How to Survive ICD-10-CM.

In under an hour, you'll hear industry expert and author of "The ICD-10-CM, Implementation Guide, Make the Transition Manageable", Deborah J. Grider, CPC, CPC-I, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPMA, CEMC, COBGC, CDERC, the American Academy of Professional Coders' Vice President of Strategic Development, CCS-P, discuss:

    * The key steps you need to take to ensure ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation preparedness.
    * Crosswalking examples and how the GEMs might impact your reimbursement.
    * What documentation issues will need to be addressed prior to implementation.
    * The impact the transition will have on the healthcare industry as a whole.

Register here: http://info.navicure.com/icd10-webinar.html

Navicure is a leading Internet-based medical claims clearinghouse that helps physician practices increase profitability through improved claims reimbursement and staff productivity. All of our solutions are supported by the Navicure 3-Ring Policy™. Your call will be answered by a member of our highly skilled client services team within three rings. Guaranteed.

Navicure has ranked among the fastest growing companies nationally in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Deloitte Fast 500 rankings, and 2008 and 2009 Inc. 5000.

Things are getting ugly between Sermo and the AMA

Wow, things are starting to get quite nasty here. The marriage has turned into an ugly divorce. When Sermo announced its partnership with the AMA, I was optimistic. However, they have had an ugly split recently and they're now at war.

I just got an e-mail from Sermo's founder Dr. Daniel Palestrant. The subject line reads: "From the Founder: CPT - Why physicians always get screwed, thanks AMA"

He highlights the results of a recent survey that included over 4,000 US physicians and it generated over 700 comments on Sermo. The results are quite striking:

• 75% of physicians surveyed are not members of the AMA.
• 89% of physicians claim, "The AMA does not speak for me."
• 91% of physicians surveyed do not believe the AMA accurately reflects their opinion as physicians.

Now, the focus on Sermo is shifting towards Current Procedure Terminology (CPT) coding. Here's some background on CPT codes:

For most physicians, Current Procedure Terminology or CPT codes have become a defining aspect of how we must practice medicine. They have become the "currency" of healthcare, mandating all manner of payments to physicians from the most complex surgical procedures to routine office visits. In the process, the CPT coding system has turned into an incredibly complex system of codes, modifiers, and exceptions. Add to that the RVU formulas, and it is no wonder that most physicians are drowning in paperwork.

So, now it's time to consider some questions related to CPT codes:

• Who publishes these CPT codes?
  
• Is it right that the AMA makes more money from selling licensing for CPT codes than it does from membership dues?
  
• Should our government continue to support the AMA’s monopoly on CPT codes?
• Who should manage CPT codes?

If you're a U.S. physician, have you joined Sermo? Are you a member of the AMA?