As part of the ICD-10 implementation and planning process, practice managers will need to find a training program for their staff.
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) suggests that coding staff worahimking outside the hospital inpatient setting get at least 16 hours of ICD-10 education, focusing on ICD-10-CM and not ICD-10-PCS. Inpatient coding staff should have at least 50 hours of ICD-10 training as they will need to learn both ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS. Meanwhile, the American Academy Of Professional Coders quoted CMS when stating that any full-time coder will need approximately 40 hours of training, and physicians will need at least another 12 hours on top of that. Given this slight discrepancy, it seems training time will be based on your staff’s individual capabilities.
The following is a brief list of national training options.
AAPC
For the general code set, AAPC offers:
- Bootcamp – A two-day training on the code set includes complete, in-depth guidelines, discovered nuances, hands-on exercises, and a practice assessment.
- Online Training – Covers coding format, structure, and guidelines, and includes multimedia presentation and quizzes.
- Local Chapter Training – These limited events are exclusively for AAPC members and are held with participating chapters, providing a comprehensive training on the ICD-10-CM Code Set.
- Onsite Training – This is available for organizations with groups of ten or more. Trainings are held at your facility and led by ICD-10 certified trainers.
Bundled AAPC training programs cover the PCS code set as well.
AAPC’s website also offers tools for converting codes from ICD-9 to ICD0-10, and crosswalks by speciality. Visit The AAPC Website.
AHIMA
For physicians, AHIMA’s online ICD-10 documentation course offers easily digestible, self-paced training modules that can be accessed anytime, from any device. The program provides three- to five-minute targeted sections that cover a physician’s 10 to 20 most-billed diagnoses and conditions.
For coding staff, web-based and in-person training is available. AHIMA only approves trainers who meet specific standards and fulfill rigorous requirements. Find an AHIMA Trainer.
World Health Organization (WHO)
The WHO actually owns the right to copy and publish ICD-10. Their electronic training tool is designed for self-learning and classroom use. The modular structure permits user groups to tailor specific courses to individual paths, if desired. Their website also allows interaction with a group of specialist.
With so many options (far more than are listed here) for ICD-10 training, physicians and coding staff should have no trouble passing assessments and transitioning to the new code set in October 2014.