The Government Accountability Office has spoken: CMS is prepared to transition to ICD-10 this coming Oct. 1.
Per request from the Senate Committee on Finance, the GAO reviewed CMS' actions, both planned and taken, to support the transition of covered entities to ICD-10 codes by Oct. 1. The performance audit took place from July 2014 to January 2015.
To help support the transition for covered entities and vendors, CMS developed educational materials, conducted outreach and monitored the entities' readiness to move to ICD-10. The agency also provided technical assistance to Medicaid agencies to help monitor their readiness for the switch.
CMS also reported it had started modifying Medicare's systems and policies to prepare for the transition to ICD-10, including updating coverage policies, fee-for-service claims processing systems and hospital reimbursement.
According to the GAO report, all Medicaid agencies said they would be able and ready to perform the activities CMS identified as "critical" by the transition deadline.
Additionally, CMS has taken steps to address concerns raised by stakeholders, such as scheduling more end-to-end testing and offering in-person training in additional states.
While work remains to complete testing by the transition deadline, the GAO concluded "CMS has taken multiple steps to help prepare covered entities for the transition, including developing educational materials and conducting outreach, and the majority of the stakeholders we contacted reported that both of those activities have been helpful to preparing covered entities for the ICD-10 transition."
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