The American Academy of Professional Coders and Ingenix to Offer Comprehensive ICD-10 Implementation Training

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH— The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and Ingenix today announced a collaborative training effort that will ensure physician practices, outpatient clinics and health plans are properly prepared to implement ICD-10 medical coding systems by the Oct. 1, 2013 compliance deadline set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The programs, which include on-site, Web-based and group training sessions, will be available beginning January 2010. They were developed by a team of experts led by nationally renowned ICD-10 authority Deborah Grider, CPC, CPC-I, CPC-H, CPC-P.
 
“By collaborating with Ingenix, we have created a one-stop shop for all healthcare professionals for ICD-10 training and implementation preparation,” said Reed Pew, AAPC president and CEO. “Although physicians, coders and staff do not need to learn the ICD-10-CM code set for another couple years, every medical practice and facility, small to large, and every health plan should begin preparing now for a smooth implementation. Our training program will do just that.”
 
Training elements include:
·         Three-day on-site comprehensive implementation training sessions, which can be customized for individual facilities, health plans or practices
·         Distance learning modules focused on specialty-specific training, such as guidelines and mapping from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM along with code set training
·         Fifteen-minute webcasts designed for physicians, non-physician practitioners and practice administrators
·         ICD-10-specific breakout sessions at the AAPC’s 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 national conferences
·         A three-part webinar series tailored to physician practice specialties, including OB/GYN, cardiology, orthopaedics, family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics and general surgery
·         Half-day workshops held in 65 cities around the country to help with progression through implementation benchmarks and to assist with understanding of new codes and data structures
·         Preparation for the AAPC’s ICD-10 Proficiency Examination, which will be available from October 2012 through September 2014
·         Eight regional conferences in 2013, held in locations across the country between January and May, which will offer general and specialty educational tracks