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Part 2: One coder’s cost-effective strategy for education

In my last blog post, I explained how I tackled the challenge of educating myself about ICD-10, realizing the significant cost that would be associated with registering for every ICD-10 Webinar, seminar, and educational session under the sun.

In addition to creating quizzes and memory aids to help myself learn ICD-10 codes, I also worked to refine my own coding reference Excel spreadsheet, which became a valuable tool and part of my daily routine.

I read through most of the 2003 Draft ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting for Acute Short-term and Long-term Hospital Inpatient and Physician Office and other Outpatient Encounters and then I began to crosswalk a homegrown coding reference Excel spreadsheet that I currently use on a daily basis to ICD-10. My plan was to complete crosswalking my spreadsheet and then after purchasing an ICD-10 Manual, proceed to practice assigning ICD-10 codes for charts that I code on a regular basis.

I also started to incorporate ICD-10 into my daily discussions with other coders. When I answered an ICD-9 coding question, I would also provide the ICD-10 codes, especially when the discussion was about controversial, problematic issues related to ICD-9 (e.g., there is not a specific enough code). I felt that this daily application and routine of looking up of ICD-10 codes for various questions that I answer on listservs and through other informal coding discussions would get me into an ICD-10 coding frame of mind.

After that, I started to read through the ICD-10-PCS reference manual, and I started memorizing the characters for each section and body system for the procedural coding system. I also planned to create a quiz on the structural differences between ICD-9-CM Volume 3 and ICD-10-PCS. I had recently written a comprehensive training module on ICD-9-CM Volume 3 procedures, and my plan was to update that training module as well as any other ICD-9 Volume 3 reference sheets that I had.

At the beginning of 2009, I noted the updated 2009 official coding guidelines, namely  ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, and prepared notes detailing the differences between the 2003 and the 2009 guidelines. I also updated my coding files that I had downloaded to my desktop for daily use to reflect the new 2009 coding system.

At that point, I had heard about the possible freeze of ICD-10, so I decided to hold off on completing the conversion of my diagnosis and procedure reference sheets and training materials until at least 2010 in hopes of being able to plan around any possible freezes. Access a recent ICD-10 Watch post to learn more about this possible freeze.

I continue to code with ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS when answering coding questions, and I continue to study the ICD-10-PCS reference manual. If you’re looking for a low-cost strategy for acquiring ICD-10 education, keep in mind that all of this practice using ICD-10 costs only my time.

Tune in for my next blog post, when I share some ideas for building on this foundation of knowledge.

Has your coding team come up with some cost-effective strategies for learning about ICD-10? Post a comment, and share your tips with other ICD-10 Watch subscribers.

Look for ICD-10 sessions that go beyond the basics

You might be far enough along in your ICD-10 implementation timeline to attend some informational sessions that go beyond the basics. “You’re going to see more companies advertising functional learning as opposed to theoretical sessions,” says Shannon E. McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, director of coding and HIM at HCPro, Inc., in Marblehead, MA.

Just to provide some examples, I’ll highlight two that I recently came across:

• The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) will host a conference July 28-30 in Fairfax, VA, titled, “Advancing Along the Implementation Highway: The Road Map to Success” covering implementation of the HIPAA 5010 transaction sets and the ICD-10 code sets.

“This will not be a 101-level session on the 5010 transactions or the differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10,” according to WEDI. “Instead, come prepared to discuss and develop ‘working solutions’ to business impacts in sessions that invite your input.”

HIPAA 5010 sessions will cover a range of topics, including:

1. Transactions/implementation issues
2. How to influence senior executives to make 5010 a priority now
3. What Level I compliance means
4. Medicare EDI front-end changes
5. Development of test scenarios

ICD-10 sessions will cover a range of topics, including:

1. Crosswalks
2. Testing
3. The impact assessment process
4. Project team formation and structure
5. Clinical considerations

• The Massachusetts Health Data Consortium is hosting an information session in Waltham, MA, on June 23 titled, “Preparing for ICD-10 Implementation, ” during which two CMS regional representatives will offer their thoughts on how ICD-10 will affect Massachusetts healthcare organizations. What are the implications of ICD-10 for your organization? How will it affect patient care, office efficiency, and healthcare organization revenue?

Look for similar sessions in your area. Check with local, regional, and national associations.

Some AHIMA training sessions already sold out

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is hosting three sessions of the “Academy for ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainers”:

• July 24 – 26, 2009 | Las Vegas, NV | Planet Hollywood Resort SOLD OUT
• September 9-11 | Chicago, IL | AHIMA National Office SOLD OUT (1st session); but AHIMA added a 2nd session
• October 8-10 | Grapevine, TX | In conjunction with the AHIMA Convention and Exhibit

I was already planning to attend the national AHIMA convention October 3-8th and thought it would be a great time to attend the “train the trainer” sessions following the convention. Why make two separate trips right? Well, I had no idea that getting a seat in one of these sessions would be such an ordeal. I was concerned about registering for the October session after seeing how the first two locations were already sold out and they were more than two months away!

So, I called the AHIMA to inquire about the number of seats they had in these sessions because they seemed to go like hotcakes. The very nice representative e-mailed me and explained that they were only allowing 50 people per session (at the time) and that registration would not be available until May 1.

I marked my calendar to make sure I registered on May 1, when the registration opened. I felt like I was a teenager waiting for the hottest concert tickets to go on sale at 8 a.m. (minus the sleeping outside in the cold – not that I have ever done that anyway!)

I logged on at 8:30 a.m. EST, and registration still wasn’t available. Of course, I now remembered that the AHIMA is in Chicago, which means they are on CT. I logged back in at 9:30 a.m. EST and was able to register. Whew! I got a seat! I was so excited.

I did notice that they have now increased the maximum number to 100 attendees.

I sure hope this training is as valuable as I expect. The price is $1,900! The AHIMA doesn’t mess around being that this education will bring in approximately $190,000 per session. I am glad it is a nonprofit organization.

I am not sure whether the reason it is such a hot commodity right now is based on the fact that attendees are being proactive to get their organization ready or whether it is because there is going to be a band wagon of people “putting out shingles” that they are AHIMA certified ICD-10-CM/PCS trainers. I know that I intend on using the knowledge to share with the thousands of students who have come to rely on HCPro for their training.