Dive Brief:
- North Shore-LIJ Health System has announced that it has created a new business unit, HealthForce, that is offering medical coding services to healthcare organizations nationwide. The services will be offered to assist providers in preparation for the transition to ICD-10.
- Cyndi Thomas has joined the organization as its vice president of business development. Thomas has 18 years experience in the industry and has built two contract coding enterprises at national staffing companies.
- HealthForce has a staff or more than 100 coders who have all taken part in quality checks. Unlike most coding contractors, HealthForce will not be acting as staff augmentation.
Dive Insight:
The transition to ICD-10 looms large as 2015 approaches and providers continue to be ill-prepared for the switchover. But there is no dearth of support for hospitals needing assistance. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released an outline to help providers prepare for the change when it announced the October 1, 2015 deadline for attestation. The plan includes internal testing of CMS' claims processing systems, beta testing and end-to-end testing. More than 2,500 providers will take part in testing with CMS to ensure providers can successfully submit claims using ICD-10, that those claims can be correctly adjusted by CMS and that the organization can produce remittance advice.