With the enormous volume of reporting during recent years on the nation’s healthcare industry implementing the ICD-10 code set, one might conclude that the subject is now old news. After all, ICD10monitor began its coverage of the migration from ICD-9 to ICD-10 in 2011, via both its website as well as its Internet radio broadcasting.
But that’s not the case, according to ICD10monitor publisher Chuck Buck, who reports that visitors to the ICD10monitor website have dramatically increased of late.
“On the occasion of launching a revamped ICD10monitor website, we did an analysis of our circulation numbers, and were somewhat astonished by the growth the site has experienced,” Buck said. “Since 2013 until last year, our annual site visits experienced a 292-percent increase. Our annual site visits in 2016 topped 367,890 in all.”
Buck said the annual number of pages viewed on the website experienced a 530-percent growth during that same time, moving from 369,101 to 1,061,076 during the three-year period from 2013 to 2016.
“Our editorial mission has produced success as well. We are more than just reporters covering ICD-10 coding and documentation issues,” Buck said. “We are reporting on value-based purchasing and other new payment methodologies, as well such as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). We are breaking news on population health, physician engagement, and patient experience – and doing so with lively writing and careful editing. In essence, we are surpassing our own lofty expectations.”
Thanks to what has been described as a seamless transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10, it could have been surmised that there simply wasn’t much to report on in this area. But that hasn’t been the case.
“On the contrary,” Buck said. “We have been reporting on some of the potholes in the highway, including national coverage and local coverage determinations (NCDs) and (LCDs) and their impact on claims.”
Buck also said that early on in the implementation, ICD10monitor reported on errors in the translation of codes between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM/PCS in the MS-DRG methodology. Some codes, he explained, did not impact MS-DRGs under ICD-9-CM, but did so for ICD-10 MS-DRGs – and vice versa.
“We will continue to monitor and report on the progress that all healthcare stakeholders are experiencing in their respective implementations of ICD-10,” Buck said. “We believe the implementation is progressing through four phases that we will be monitoring: coding, reimbursement, process re-engineering, and quality.”
Looking ahead, Buck said his group believes there will be an even greater need to monitor coding and education services in the future, and that he anticipates an increase in the use of computer-assisted coding (CAC).
“As we are seeing the results of ICD-10 coding in the adjudication of claims that Medicare reimburses, we expect that there will be a phase of system re-engineering to correct those issues,” Buck said. “This phase, which we are now experiencing, will be feature a focus on quality – both the quality of coding as well as the quality of healthcare, which leads to value-based performance.”
Anyone who has worked within the scope of hospital case/utilization management for any period of time has heard of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
The U.S. Department of Education’s implementation of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has triggered one of the most consequential – and controversial
Please log in to your account to comment on this article.
Accurately determining the principal diagnosis is critical for compliant billing, appropriate reimbursement, and valid quality reporting — yet it remains one of the most subjective and error-prone areas in inpatient coding. In this expert-led session, Cheryl Ericson, RN, MS, CCDS, CDIP, demystifies the complexities of principal diagnosis assignment, bridging the gap between coding rules and clinical reality. Learn how to strengthen your organization’s coding accuracy, reduce denials, and ensure your documentation supports true medical necessity.
Denials continue to delay reimbursement, increase administrative burden, and threaten financial stability across healthcare organizations. This essential webcast tackles the root causes—rising payer scrutiny, fragmented workflows, inconsistent documentation, and underused analytics—and offers proven, data-driven strategies to prevent and overturn denials. Attendees will gain practical tools to strengthen documentation and coding accuracy, engage clinicians effectively, and leverage predictive analytics and AI to identify risks before they impact revenue. Through real-world case examples and actionable guidance, this session empowers coding, CDI, and revenue cycle professionals to shift from reactive appeals to proactive denial prevention and revenue protection.
Sepsis remains one of the most frequently denied and contested diagnoses, creating costly revenue loss and compliance risks. In this webcast, Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, provides practical, real-world strategies to align documentation with coding guidelines, reconcile Sepsis-2 and Sepsis-3 definitions, and apply compliant queries. You’ll learn how to identify and address documentation gaps, strengthen provider engagement, and defend diagnoses against payer scrutiny—equipping you to protect reimbursement, improve SOI/ROM capture, and reduce audit vulnerability in this high-risk area.
Only ICD10monitor delivers what you need: updates on must-know changes associated with the FY26 IPPS, including new ICD-10-CM/PCS codes, CCs/MCCs, and MS-DRGs, plus insights, analysis and answers to your questions from two of the country’s most respected subject matter experts.
As AI reshapes healthcare compliance, the risk of biased outputs and opaque decision-making grows. This webcast, led by Frank Cohen, delivers a practical Four-Pillar Governance Framework—Transparency, Accountability, Fairness, and Explainability—to help you govern AI-driven claim auditing with confidence. Learn how to identify and mitigate bias, implement robust human oversight, and document defensible AI review processes that regulators and auditors will accept. Discover concrete remedies, from rotation protocols to uncertainty scoring, and actionable steps to evaluate vendors before contracts are signed. In a regulatory landscape that moves faster than ever, gain the tools to stay compliant, defend your processes, and reduce liability while maintaining operational effectiveness.
Get clear, practical answers to Medicare’s most confusing regulations. Join Dr. Ronald Hirsch as he breaks down real-world compliance challenges and shares guidance your team can apply right away.
Federal auditors are zeroing in on Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and hospital rehab unit services, with OIG and CERT audits leading to millions in penalties—often due to documentation and administrative errors, not quality of care. Join compliance expert Michael Calahan, PA, MBA, to learn the five clinical “pillars” of IRF-PPS admissions, key documentation requirements, and real-life case lessons to help protect your revenue.
During this essential RACmonitor webcast Michael Calahan, PA, MBA Certified Compliance Officer, will clarify the rules, dispel common misconceptions, and equip you with practical strategies to code, document, and bill high-risk split/shared, incident-to & critical care E/M services with confidence. Don’t let audit risks or revenue losses catch your organization off guard — learn exactly what federal auditors are looking for and how to ensure your documentation and reporting stand up to scrutiny.
Prepare for the 2025 CMS IPPS Final Rule with ICD10monitor’s IPPSPalooza! Click HERE to learn more
Get 15% OFF on all educational webcasts at ICD10monitor with code JULYFOURTH24 until July 4, 2024—start learning today!
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 1 with code CYBER25
CYBER WEEK IS HERE! Don’t miss your chance to get 20% off now until Dec. 2 with code CYBER24
