At the ICD-9-CM Coordination & Maintenance Committee Meeting (September 15, 2010), it was announced that the committee had finalized the decision to implement a partial freeze for both ICD-9-CM codes and ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes prior to implementation of ICD-10 on October 1, 2013. There was considerable support for this partial freeze.
The partial freeze will be implemented as follows: * The last regular annual update to both ICD-9 and ICD-10 code sets will be made on October 1, 2011. * On October 1, 2012 there will be only limited code updates to both ICD-9- CM and ICD- 10 code sets to capture new technology and new diseases. * There will be no updates to ICD-9 -CM on October 1, 2013 as the system will no longer be a HIPAA standard. On October 1, 2014 regular updates to ICD-10 will begin. The ICD-9 Coordination & Maintenance Committee will continue to meet twice a year during the freeze. At these meetings the public will be allowed to comment on whether or not requests for new diagnosis and procedure codes should be created based on the need to capture new technology or disease. Any code requests that do not meet the criteria will be evaluated for implementation within ICD-10 on or after October 1, 2014, once the partial freeze is ended. To view the transcript of the meeting, go to: http://www.cms.gov/ICD9ProviderDiagnosticCodes/03_meetings.asp. From there, select the September 15-16, 2010 meeting transcript in the download section, and then from the ZIP files, select the 091510_Morning_Transcript file. This section appears on page 4 of the 78-page proceeding. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October Flu Shot Reminder Vaccination is the Best Protection Against the Flu. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is encouraging everyone 6 months of age and older to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu. The risks for complications, hospitalizations and deaths from the flu are higher among individuals aged 65 years and older. Medicare pays for the seasonal flu vaccine and its administration for seniors and others with Medicare with no co-pay or deductible. And remember, vaccination is particularly important for health care workers, who may spread the flu to high risk patients. Don't forget to immunize yourself and your staff. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get Your Flu Vaccine - Not the Flu. Remember - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare's coverage of the influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and their staff, please visit http://www.cms.gov/AdultImmunizations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf) and subscribe to the most appropriate listservs. If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe from the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
