CMS Announces Partial Code Freeze Prior to ICD-10 Implementation
The ICD-9-CM Coordination & Maintenance Committee announced on September 15, 2010 that it finalized the decision to implement a partial freeze for both ICD-9-CM codes and ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes prior to implementation of ICD-10 on October 1, 2013, which was received with considerable support.
The partial freeze will be implemented as follows:
The last regular annual update to both ICD-9 and ICD-10 code sets will be made on October 1, 2011.
- On October 1, 2012 there will be only limited code updates to both 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.
Regular updates to ICD-10 will begin on October 1, 2014. The ICD-9 Coordination & Maintenance Committee will continue to meet twice a year during the freeze. At these meetings the public will be allowed to attend and comment on whether requests for new diagnosis and procedure codes should be created based on the need to capture new technology or disease. Code requests that do not meet the criteria will be evaluated for implementation within ICD-10 on or after October 1, 2014, once the partial freeze is ended.
