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My experience at an AHIMA trainer session

I recently completed the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Academy for ICD-10 trainer session in Grapevine, TX. It was a whirlwind experience. The days were long, but it was fun to learn something new.

I am convinced now more than ever that ICD-10-CM is very much like ICD-9-CM. But ICD-10-PCS will take some getting used to.

For ICD-10-CM, we still follow the same steps to assign codes—they just don’t look like our beloved ICD-9-CM codes. I have memorized so many codes over the years (as I can imagine many of my fellow coders also have), so this will be one of the hardest adjustments to make. With ICD-10-CM, we will have to exercise our minds into learning and memorizing new codes. For example, all of us in the training session learned a new code the first day that I will never forget—I10 for hypertension!

There are definitely aspects about ICD-10-CM that I am excited about. We no longer need to concern ourselves with determining whether hypertension was benign or malignant or whether diabetes is uncontrolled or not stated as uncontrolled because ICD-10-CM codes are not differentiated in this manner.

For conditions such as septic shock, it is wonderful that we will have a combination code for sepsis with septic shock (R65.21). In ICD-9-CM, we generally have to report three codes (systemic infection, 995.92, and 785.52). With ICD-10-CM, we have to report only two codes: The underlying condition first and R65.21. Overall, we are still making progress in simplifying the system.

ICD-10-PCS is a whole different ball of wax! Stay tuned to hear more about this in a future blog. Have you attended one of AHIMA’s trainer sessions? What was your experience like? Share your comments here!

Surely trainers need exposure to ICD-10 now, but who should train the trainers?

How much ICD-10 training are you ready for today?  The American Health Information Management Association states:

It would be impractical and a waste of resources and time to start training coders now on the specific updates to the code sets. Coders should be trained much closer to the 2013 implementation date so the updates are fresh when they need to start using them.

I understand that philosophy. If you don’t use it, you lose it. However, we can’t all wait until 2013 for training. Certainly key people, such as trainers, ought to be exposed to the new coding system now. My question is, how far in advance of the October 2013 implementation date should you wait to receive training? Will your organization send a few staff members for training ahead of sending the bulk of your department for training? Will your organization have a few people attend education sessions and then come back and train the rest of your coders? When you seek training, what kind of experience do you want the instructors to have? Would you be comfortable learning about ICD-10 from someone who just learned the new coding system six months prior?

Check out AHIMA ICD-10 resources

To prepare for the transition to ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS, it may be helpful to have a list of resources that are currently available either online or in print through the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA):

• The association’s official ICD-10-CM and PCS Web site
• Educational sessions on anatomy and physiology
• Checklist for preparation
• Articles such as the ICD-10-CM/PCS gap analysis of workflow tool (Journal of AHIMA)
• Body of Knowledge on the AHIMA website contains many relevant articles, position statements and position statements
• Codewrite contains the “ICD-10 Checkpoint,” which shows comparative case scenarios using ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM codes
• AHIMA Academy for ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainers workshops

As one of the four cooperating parties for ICD-10-CM/PCS, the AHIMA is a valid resource for education and information regarding ICD-10-CM. Although many of us consider it quite early to get formal training, I think reading about any related issues pertaining to the ongoing preparation will only enable us to transition easily and seamlessly to this exciting new system on October 1, 2013.

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.