CMS Asks For ICD-10 Test Volunteers

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

In April, a sample group of providers will complete ICD-10 end-to-end testing, and CMS is looking for volunteers.

A second sample group of providers will be needed to participate in a recently announced ICD-10 end-to-end testing period. Fierce Health IT reports that CMS announced last week that this spring, volunteer submitters will be required for the testing.

According to the announcement, the goal of end-to-end testing is to demonstrate:

• providers and submitters are able to successfully submit claims containing ICD-10 codes to the Medicare Fee-For Service (FFS) claims systems
• CMS software changes made to support ICD-10 result in appropriately adjudicated claims
• accurate remittance advices are produced

“This nationwide sample will yield meaningful results, since 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,” explains CMS. “While acknowledgement testing is open to all electronic submitters, end-to-end testing is limited to a smaller sample of submitters who volunteer and are selected for testing," CMS says.

To volunteer for this sample group, providers should visit their Medicare Administrative Contractor's (MAC) website by January 9, 2015.

In November, Health IT Outcomes reported that larger providers were prepared for ICD-10 testing. In a survey conducted by AHIMA and the eHealth Initiative, 454 healthcare executives were surveyed about their preparedness when it comes to ICD-10. “Sixty-five percent were prepared to begin end-to-end testing prior to October 2015, including 63 percent who indicated they would be ready to conduct testing by the end of the year; ten percent with no plans to test; and 17 percent with no anticipated testing date,” according to the results.