Over the last three years, we’ve published many blog posts, articles and infographics about ICD-10 that have been warmly received — for which we thank our readers! Today, I’m turning the tables and recommending six of the best ICD-10 resources on the web. If you’ve never visited some or all of these sites, you’re in luck. Even if you think you’ve seen all that these sites offer, take a close look below at many of their hidden gems.

1. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid — If you haven’t already scoured the CMS site, or visited it recently, you should go there today!  CMS has continually added new tools, guides, videos and more to support small hospitals and physician practices, in particular. Just a few examples:

• Recent communiques from CMS about ICD-10, such as
  • CMS’ Recent Guidance Letter to Providers about ICD-10 readiness, which discusses the flexibility being offered to physician practices regarding their ICD-10 claims, and details various resources available from CMS including the new ICD-10 Quick Start Guide.
  • Clarifying Questions and Answers Related to the July 6, 2015 CMS/AMA Joint Announcement and Guidance Regarding ICD-10 Flexibilities.  CMS developed this FAQ to clarify the joint CMS/AMA announcement regarding flexibility that will be provided to physician practices in payment of ICD-10 claims.
• The robust Road to Ten web site that has been set up specifically to support physician practices. The well thought out site is a treasure trove of instructive webcasts, videos, physician “champions” perspectives, templates, and many other resources.
• The Medicare Learning Network “MLN Connects” Provider eNews published its  Countdown to ICD-10 last week. It includes the following:
  • Access the ICD-10 Code Set
  • List of Valid ICD-10-CM Codes
  • “General Equivalence Mappings Frequently Asked Questions” Booklet — Revised
  • “ICD-10-CM/PCS ICD-10-CM/PCS Myths and Facts” Fact Sheet — Revised
  • “ICD-10-CM Classification Enhancements” Fact Sheet — Revised
  • “ICD-10-CM/PCS The Next Generation of Coding” Fact Sheet — Revised
  • Get Ready Now: Assess How ICD-10 Will Affect Your Practice
  • Prepare for ICD-10 with MLN Connects Videos
• The ICD-10 Implementation Guide. This interactive guide for smalll hospitals and physician practices provides step-by-step implementation information and tools such as project plans, a matrix tool for assigning roles and responsibilities to project team members, and transition checklists.
• CMS’ Clinical Concepts Guides. To help physicians and other providers get quickly up to speed, CMS has launched the ICD-10 Clinical Concepts Series for the specialties listed below. Each guide in the series compiles key information from the Road to 10 in a PDF format for easy sharing. The guides include common ICD-10 codes, clinical documentation tips, clinical scenarios, and links to Road to 10.
  • Family Practice
  • Internal Medicine
  • Cardiology
  • OB/GYN
  • Orthopedics
  • Pediatrics
• The ICD-10 PCs and GEMs page offers the 2016 ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) files in zip and pdf formats. These provide comprehensive information on the new procedure coding system, ICD-10-PCS, that replaces ICD-9-CM, Volume 3.

2. AHIMA — AHIMA’s membership involvement is central to ICD-10 compliance.  The nearly 100-year old health information management association has developed an extraordinary amount of supportive whitepapers, guides and programs. Having said this, some of its ICD-10 content goes back a year or two before the government’s deadline delays.  If you ignore dates,  most of AHIMA’s resources are highly relevant and well worth exploring. A stand-out is its “Clinical Documentation Tips.” You can access AHIMA’s written resources from the “Choose Your Path to ICD-10” page.

Also, hurry to this AHIMA page, which includes announcements about upcoming ICD-10 related webinars and other events, such as:

• 09/09:  ICD-10-PCS Root Operations: Detachment, Reattachment, and Transplantation
• 09/10:  Improving Outpatient Coding Workflow–5 Things to Do Now
• 09/16:  Advanced ICD-10-PCS Skills Workshop
• 09/16:  ICD-10-PCS Root Operations: Dilation, Occlusion, Restriction and Bypass

3. HIMSS — HIMSS recently produced a timely, efficient resource:  “Preparing for ICD-10 in Less Than 120 Days: Critical Activities Checklist.” One of the checklist’s big positives is that its time-critical to-do’s differentiate between organizations that rely on clearinghouses, and those that do not. The HIMSS ICD-10 page also links to  some older, but very good references, including its  “Successful ICD-10 Implementation from a Provider Perspective,”  its “ICD-10 Readiness Guide,” and its “ICD-10 Testing Guidance.”

4. Advance for Health Information Professionals — This online publication produces ICD-10 articles, webinars, Q/As and surveys. Its  26 page e-book “A Successful Transition to ICD-10,” focuses on several aspects of implementation by several authors. The site has ICD-10 focused webinars available in its archives, including “Coding, CDI, and Case Management: The Essential Collaboration Needed for ICD-10 Success,” and “The ICD-10 Gotchas.”

5. ICD-10 Monitor — Lots of excellent, authoritative material here by qualified industry authors who are directly involved with ICD-10 issues and write well. I count myself as one of them, but would recommend this dedicated ICD-10 content provider even if I were not. Most recent offerings include:

• ICD-10 Coding Final Countdown Checklist — 4 part series
• Does Your Documentation Have Attention Deficit Disorder?
• Ten Principles to Help You Engage Providers Around ICD-10
• Fine-Tuning for Financial Success During the ICD-10 Transition: Preparations to Prevent Cash Flow Disruption

6. ICD-10 Watch. The excellent writers of this blog-styled web site have regularly published authoritative educational articles for years. Recent posts include:

• How to Survive the ICD-10 Transition if You’re Just Starting
• ICD-10 Guidance for Procrastinating Physicians
• Why Physicians Will Be Using ICD-9 Codes After Oct. 1

Whether before or after October 1, we can help you with your ICD-10 transition. If you would like to talk, please contact us.