Volunteers wanted for ICD-10 testing in April

Are you ready to put your ICD-10 readiness to the test ahead of it going into effect next October? If so, Medicare is offering a second opportunity for providers to participate in ICD-10 end-to-end testing with Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and the Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) contractor next spring.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will select approximately 850 volunteer submitters to participate in the testing during the week of April 26 through May 1, 2015. CMS intends to select volunteers representing a broad cross-section of provider, claim, and submitter types, including claims clearinghouses that submit claims for large numbers of providers.

The April event follows Medicare’s first week of end-to-end ICD-10 testing in January. Testers who are participating in the January event are able to test again in April without re-applying.

Volunteer forms should be available at each MAC’s website. To volunteer as a testing submitter, complete the volunteer form by Jan. 9. CMS will review the applications and select the group, and the MACs and CEDI will notify the chosen volunteers and provide them with the information needed for the testing by Jan. 30.

If selected, practices must be able to submit future-dated claims and provide valid National Provider Identifiers, Provider Transaction Access Numbers, and beneficiary Health Insurance Claim Numbers that will be used for test claims. This information will be needed by the MACs by Feb. 20 for set-up purposes. Missing the deadline will lead to volunteers being dropped from the test.

An additional opportunity for end-to-end testing will be available during the week of July 20-24, 2015. For more information, see the MLN Matters article, “Medicare FFS ICD-10 Testing Approach.”

– Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment for the American Academy of Family Physicians

Posted on Dec 16, 2014 by David Twiddy