Medicare Claims ICD-10 Testing Week: March 3-7, 2014

On October 1, 2014, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets. To help you prepare for this transition, CMS announces a national testing week for current direct submitters (providers and clearinghouses) from March 3 through 7, 2014.

This testing week will give trading partners access to the Medicare Administrative Contractor’s (MACs) and Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) for testing with real-time help desk support. The event will be conducted virtually. Registration is required.

What you can expect during testing:

• Test claims with ICD-10 codes must be submitted with current dates of service (i.e. October 1, 2013 through March 3, 2014), since testing does not support future dated claims.
• Test claims will receive the 277CA or 999 acknowledgement as appropriate, to confirm that the claim was accepted or rejected in the system.
• Testing will not confirm claim payment or produce remittance advice.
• MACs and CEDI will be staffed to handle increased call volume during this week.

More information is available in MLN Matters® Article MM8465, “ICD-10 Testing with Providers through the Common Edits and Enhancements Module (CEM) and Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI).”

To find out more information on how to register and how to apply - please click on the MLN Matters Article MM8465 link in the paragraph on top of this one - it will explain the steps CMS is taking to get you ready for this testing week.

Steve