Part 3: One coder shares list of cost-effective ICD-10 resources
Looking back a year later, I now feel relatively confident in my background knowledge of ICD-10. And I did not spend any money. Read more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog post about my cost-effective strategy to learn about ICD-10.
As soon as I know whether there will be a freeze date, I will make plans to create/update my own personal coding references and training materials accordingly.
One possible expenditure I would recommend would be the purchase of the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) practice exercise text on ICD-10, which is based on the 2009 code set and guidelines, and you can also take the proficiency assessments for validation of your self-education efforts.
I’m not too concerned about the possibility of the ICD-10 code set changing again a couple more times because I would just update the current desktop files that I use and just know that a few of the codes in the answers in the AHIMA text I reference above may be outdated. These potential changes will not significantly hamper your studies to the point that it would be worth purchasing an updated text. My personal plan is to not make any significant expenditures until I know about whether CMS will impose a code freeze.
So bottom line, you already know ICD-9 and the general coding conventions and guidelines, so it’s just a matter of understanding the differences in those guidelines and conventions in ICD-10 (Find out by reading the ICD-10-CM official guidelines and the ICD-10-PCS official guidelines found in Appendix B of the Reference manual.) and then download the files (one for the PCS and the index and tabular for ICD-10-CM) and start coding in ICd-10 what you code daily for practice.
If you need extra support and don’t have access to real patient records, then use AHIMA’s textbooks and/or create your own training materials. The textbooks on ICD-10 are the same books that the AHIMA will use in the Train the Trainer sessions. Yes, the AHIMA’s sessions will also have training slide presentations, but you can train your staff by just sitting down and coding your hospital records in ICD-10.
Because the AHIMA has copyrighted their training materials and slide presentations, you can’t take them back to your facility or school and incorporate them into your programs. When the question was raised in the Assembly on Education community of practice (member’s only discussion board) regarding whether the AHIMA’s training materials that attendees receive at the Train the Trainer programs could be used freely for any other setting or for any other entity even within your own organization, the AHIMA clarified that the training materials (e.g., Coding Training Manual with Exercises) are copyrighted and cannot be used internally or for any other purpose. Any entity that you teach using these materials must purchase multiple sets of these training materials at a bulk rate discount.
Familiarize yourself with ICD-10 by reviewing the following free information that I compiled. You will find overlap for some of the information, but one thing you will not want to miss is the AHIMAs’ field test project done in 2003 for ICD-10. Consider my list of must-have resources:
- AHIMA’s ICD-10 page: Includes a list of all the CodeWrite issues with the ICD-10 checkpoints in them as well as other articles on ICD-10)
- AHA ICD-10 resources
- AAPC’s Web site on ICD-10
- CMS’ conference calls on ICD-10: I listened to calls from 2008 and 2009, reviewed the presentations and transcripts, and even wrote up a summary on one of the latest 2009 calls
- Excellent article on ICD-10-CM: I used this article to get my first introduction to ICD-10-CM
- Excellent article on ICD-10-PCS: I used this article for a school paper on ICD-10-PCS
- ICD-10 Coding Corner: This has multiple coding scenarios that you can practice with for free, with answers from ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS.
- International Federation of Health Records Organizations’ (IFHRO) international training on ICD-10 sponsored by AHIMA Foundation Of Research and Education
- Also, be on the lookout for local AHIMA chapter training programs or local AMA/AHA training programs or local Medicare contractor training programs.
About the Author: Christina Benjamin, MA, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, is a hospital coding consultant and an independent coding education consultant. In these roles, Benjamin codes inpatient and outpatient hospital records, conducts online courses as an adjunct instructor, sits on a coding panel and an advisory board, personally mentors CCS and CCS-P candidates, and develops or edits courses or course lessons for educational institutions and consulting companies. Benjamin has written articles and prepared presentations highlighting ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS. Benjamin is a member of the American Health Information Management Association and the American Academy of Professional Coders. She holds a Master of Arts in Health Information/Informatics Management from The College of St. Scholastica and a Bachelor's of Science from Weber State University.
