CMS ICD-10 TESTING WEEK: MARCH 3-7 2014

Centre of Medicaid Services conducted a ICD-10 testing routine to smoothen claims processing prior to the October 1, 2014 deadline. March 3 -7 2014 was the week wherein a limited number of providers could conduct ICD-10 testing through local MACs (Medicare Administrative Contractors). This brief period worked as a good dry run to practice the basics, check of any hardware/software incompatibilities etc., ahead of the October 1, 2014 hard deadline.

Testing Process

1. Pre-coded ICD-10 test Medicare claims with dates of service between October 1, 2013 and March 3,2014 were to be ready prior to start of process
2. Ensuring that the internal IT hardware and software could handle the ICD-10 codes and connect to the MAC system
3. Submission of test claims was through Common Edits and Enhancements Module (CEM) or Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI). Technical support was available from 9 AM – 4PM, local times during the period of the test week
4. Test files needed to be limited to 25 claims or less per test file
5. All test files were to have the “T