Major ICD-10 Delays No Obstacle for Availity

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Availity, the nation's largest real-time health information network, is fully prepared to leverage its solutions to help providers manage their revenue cycle and continue testing ICD-10 readiness after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Medicaid programs in four states will not fully transition to ICD-10 code sets by the October 1, 2015, deadline.

"Availity and our provider customers have long been prepared for these kinds of eleventh-hour ICD-10 delays," said CEO Russ Thomas. "Availity has dominant marketshare in three of the four affected states, and we are well positioned to help our customers through their ICD-10 conversion, as well as getting their claims processed through our portal. We are confident that through the use of our solutions we can minimize providers' cash flow disruptions."

Availity's solutions, such as its web portal, revenue cycle management and clearinghouse, equip providers with the tools and flexibility they need to protect their everyday workflows, transactions, and reimbursements during the transition, and ensures that they continue to grow their businesses far beyond the implementation deadline.

"We built our system so our providers could test against their payers for ICD-10 and ICD-9," said Thomas. "I encourage our providers to continue ICD-10 testing with their payers. We built the Availity gateway to allow ICD-10, ICD-9, or both by selected payers in anticipation that some payers would not be ready, which now appears to be the case."

The four states that requested a delay are California, Montana, Maryland, and Louisiana. These states have nearly 15 million Medicaid beneficiaries combined. Availity has a major footprint in California, Montana, and Maryland.

The affected states are each experiencing problems with their claims processing systems and will implement a temporary workaround that will allow them to continue using ICD-9 code sets for their Medicaid fee-for-service programs, including converting ICD-10 claims into ICD-9 codes to calculate payments. The technique, called a "crosswalk," is a text file with ICD-9 codes in one column and corresponding ICD-10 codes in another. Providers are expressing concern about delays in payments and other issues, such as some ICD-10 codes not easily translating back to ICD-9.

"Should additional states or entities request a transition delay, Availity is prepared," said Thomas. "The complexity of ICD-10 conversion further illustrates why it's critical to have a trusted partner like Availity managing your revenue cycle."

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About Availity
As an industry-leading, HITRUST-certified health care information technology company, Availity serves an extensive network of health plans, providers, and technology partners nationwide through a suite of dynamic products built on a powerful, intelligent platform. Availity integrates and manages the clinical, administrative, and financial data needed to fuel real-time coordination between providers, health plans, and patients in a growing value-based care environment. Facilitating over 7 million transactions daily, Availity's ability to provide accurate, timely, and relevant information is vital to the financial success of its clients.

Contact:
Matt Schlossberg
Amendola Communications for Availity
[email protected]
630-935-9136

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SOURCE Availity

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