The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the Proposed Rule regarding the updates to the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS code sets for Fiscal Year 2017 which begins October 1, 2016. Comments regarding the proposed ICD changes are due May 6th and CMS has stated that the Final Rule will be released in August.

During the March 2016 discussion regarding the code changes, Pat Brooks, Senior Technical Advisor for CMS, commented that "We are very happy to know that the ICD-10 didn't blow up the world and it didn't fall off it's axis." Generally speaking, implementation has happened without the major disruptions and dire consequences that some were predicting. Fortunately, we will now be able to get back onto the regular schedule and pattern of updates that happen twice a year for procedure codes (PCS) and once a year for diagnosis codes (CM).

When evaluating the changes for 2017, it is essential for everyone to realize that there was a freeze on the ICD-10 code set for FOUR YEARS. During that time, the needs of providers and organizations for code changes didn't stop so there are four years worth of updates that have been queued and waiting for the freeze to end.

The following information is not yet finalized, but is helpful to realize the scope of changes:

ICD-10-CM 2017 updates include: {actually, this is the backlog of codes approved prior to the C&M Meeting} Go back to the proposed rule to see more accurate listing.

• 1,943 new codes
•    422 revised codes
•    305 deleted codes

ICD-10-PCS 2017 updates include:

• 3,651 new codes (97 percent of these new codes are for cardiovascular procedures)
•    487 revised codes
•     50 deleted codes

In preparation for these changes, we are currently taking pre-orders for our 2017 ICD-10 coding books.