CMS to Use 3M ICD-10 Conversion Software

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has selected advanced ICD-10 code translation technology from 3M Health Information Systems to assist the federal agency in converting systems, applications, and reports based on ICD-9 diagnosis and procedure codes into the language of ICD-10. The 3M ICD-10 Code Translation Tool will be used to streamline the code translation process and support ICD-10 transition planning at CMS headquarters in Baltimore.  

CMS has also licensed the software for use by its fiscal intermediaries, medicare administrative contractors, and carriers to promote accurate and consistent translations from ICD-9 to ICD-10 in all of their CMS systems.

“3M has been a research contractor to CMS on the development of patient classification systems, including DRGs, for almost 30 years, so we are very pleased to take this next step in our long-standing association,” says Richard Averill, senior vice president of clinical and economic research for 3M Health Information Systems.  “We look forward to assisting CMS in automating the conversion process and simplifying the detailed decisions required for complete and accurate ICD-10 translation.”

ICD-10 will replace ICD-9 as the U.S. coding standard beginning October 1, 2013. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, ICD-9 no longer meets the needs of today’s healthcare system because of its limited ability to accommodate new procedures and diagnoses.  “ICD-10 will bring greater accuracy and precision to payment, quality and administrative systems throughout health care,” Averill says. “Existing systems, however, will need to be converted to ICD-10 to take advantage of the rich detail available with the new code sets.”

The 3M ICD-10 Code Translation Tool is a powerful Web-based application designed to support code conversion of large, complex information systems and the creation of customized code mappings for specific clinical and business needs of both large health systems and standalone community hospitals. It is part of 3M’s complete solution for ICD-10 transition planning, which also includes ICD-10 financial impact analysis services, ICD-10 consulting services for clinical documentation improvement, and  the 3M ICD-10 Education Program, a comprehensive Web-based curriculum that prepares coders, documentation improvement specialists and other essential hospital staff for the challenge of ICD-10 coding and documentation.  

Sources: 3M Health Information Systems