What you Should Know About the GEMS and Partial Code Freeze

General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created the national version of the GEMs to ensure that consistency in national data is maintained. The GEMs are tools that act mainly as a crosswalk between the ICD–9 and ICD–10 codes. You can look up an ICD–9 code and be provided with the most appropriate ICD–10 matches and vice versa. They are not a substitute for learning the new ICD–10 codes; however, they can assist users doing the following:

• Translating lists of codes, code tables, or other coded data
• Converting a system or application containing ICD–9–CM codes
• Creating a “one-to-one” applied mapping (aka crosswalk) between code sets that will be used in an ongoing way to translate records or other coded data
• Studying the differences in meaning between the ICD–9–CM classification systems and the ICD–10-CM/PCS classification systems by looking at the GEMs entries for a given code or area of classificatio

The 2011 GEMs are posted to the CMS ICD–10 website. As a reminder, if you plan to use a GEM, per the Affordable Care Act, you must use the GEMs posted to the CMS website.
For more information on the GEMs, look at the GEMs Fact Sheet and the GEMs pages of the ICD–10 website.
Partial Code Freeze
Because continuous updates and changes to the existing code sets has the potential to make the transition to ICD–10 difficult, CMS will be implementing a partial code freeze on October 1, 2011. This is the last day for regular updates to both the ICD-9 and ICD–10 code sets.
Starting October 1, 2012 there will be only limited code updates to 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.
Keep Up to Date on Version 5010 and ICD–10.
Please visit www.cms.gov/ICD10 for the latest news and resources to help you prepare!

Dallas L Alford IV, CPA is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of North Carolina and owner of Atlantic Financial Consulting, a consulting firm that provides comprehensive medical billing services, practice management consulting, coding audits, Medicare compliance, Medicare RAC support and other general medical practice consulting services.
To learn more about Atlantic Financial Consulting you may visit their website at http://atlanticfinancial.us or contact Dallas L Alford IV, CPA directly at 1 888-428-2555 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            1 888-428-2555      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, Ext. 200.