Ready for ICD-10? Find out with this week's CMS test

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week is offering providers, clearinghouses, and others who directly submit reimbursement claims an opportunity to test whether they’re ready for the change to ICD-10 next year.

Of course, CMS regularly offers acknowledgement testing for direct submitters to work with Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) and the Common Electronic Data Interchange contractor ahead of the Oct. 1, 2015, deadline for switching from ICD-9 to ICD-10. But dedicated acknowledgement testing weeks, like the one that ends Friday, Nov. 21, give participants access to real-time help desk support and allow CMS to analyze the testing data. The last one of these was in March before the ICD-10 deadline got delayed a year.

Any provider who submits claims electronically can participate in acknowledgement testing. Submitters do not have to register for this virtual event, and information on how to participate is available on the MAC websites or through a claims clearinghouse, if the submitter uses one.

Participants should submit their test claims containing ICD-10 codes with current dates of service because testing does not support future-dated claims. Test claims will receive the 277CA or 999 acknowledgement, confirming whether the claim was accepted or rejected in the system. Testing will not confirm claim payment or produce a remittance advice.

Additional information on acknowledgement testing and how to participate is available from Medicare Learning Network Matters. The next scheduled acknowledgment testing week is March 2-6, 2015.