CMS will host a follow-up national provider conference call on "ICD-10 Implementation in a 5010 Environment" on September 13, 2010.  The call is intended for medical coders, physician office staff, provider billing staff, health records staff, vendors, educators, system maintainers, and all Medicare fee-for-service providers. The call will cover:  ICD-10; ICD-10 implementation for services provided on and after October 1, 2013; differences between ICD-10 and ICD-9-CM codes; ICD-10-CM basic information for all users; tools for converting codes – General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs); proposal to freeze ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 code updates except for new technologies and diseases; HIPAA Version 5010; compliance dates and timelines; 5010 before and after ICD-10 implementation; readiness review for implementing HIPAA version 5010 and D.0; how to prepare; and Medicare fee-for-service activities update. The registration deadline is September 10 or when space is filled.

Debra A. McCurdy blogs regularly at Health Industry Washington Watch.