CMS reports smooth ICD-10 transition to date

The transition to ICD-10 is going well, according to the first numbers released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

“Claims are processing normally,” the agency reported. Medicare claims take several days to be processed and, once processed, Medicare must, by law, wait two weeks before issuing a payment. Medicaid claims can take up to 30 days to be submitted and processed by states. So, CMS expects to release more information on ICD-10 transition in November.

To date, CMS has received an average of 4.6 million claims per day and 2 percent were rejected to incomplete or invalid information and 0.09 percent were rejected due to invalid ICD-10 codes. A total of 0.11 percent were rejected due to invalid ICD-9 codes. A total of 10.1 percent of total claims processed have been denied. The baseline rate is 10 percent.

The Coalition for ICD-10, a broad-based healthcare industry advocacy group, shared on its website the experiences of several payers and providers.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan said its “ICD-10 implementation went very smoothly. Call center volumes and overall inquiries are very low. Professional and facility claims are processing as expected.”

Meanwhile, Nemours Children’s Health System, based in Jacksonville, Fla., also reported few problems. “The transition on Oct. 1 went extraordinarily well thanks to the many years of work by staff members across our health system,” said Bonnie Hudak, MD, practicing pediatric pulmonologist and a physician leader on the organization’s ICD-10 preparation team. “I was in clinic on Oct. 1 and encountered very minimal workflow disruption. Additionally, our patients did not experience delays or problems associated with the ICD-10 transition. The next step is to see how it goes with payers in the coming months, but I am optimistic.”

Revenue cycle firm RelayHealth said it’s had about $25 billion in ICD-10 claims flow through its system.

"Now the industry must be ready to tackle the next set of challenges: timely and correct reimbursement," said Joshua Berman, ICD-10 Lead for RelayHealth, in a release. RelayHealth will be tracking closely days until final bill, an important metric that will signal just how disruptive the code change is to the industry, Berman said.