To assist our users with learning the new workflows associated with the transition to ICD-10, we have created a new ICD-10 workflow manual.  To view the manual, please click the following link: ICD-10 Implementation and Transition Manual.

On October 1, 2015, the default ICD submission status for all Insurance companies in SOAPware will automatically change to ICD-10. Any charges or billing statements that have a date of service prior to October 1, 2015 will continue to keep the setting from when they were posted (in most all cases, this will be ICD-9). Any new charges or billing statements that are posted on or after October 1, 2015 will default to use ICD-10.

This default setting can be manually modified by editing the insurance company.To edit this setting for an insurance company, go to Tools > Insurance Companies.  Select the desired insurance and click the Edit button. Under Default ICD Submission, choose the desired setting, then click OK.

All 68,000+ ICD-10 codes have been added to the SOAPware Cloud Library for use in your documentation. In addition, several performance optimizations have been made to the SOAPware Cloud Library to ensure premium performance when searching for Diagnosis codes.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control, along with input from the AHA and AHIMA have developed General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs) that provide a mechanism or crosswalk to link ICD-9 to ICD-10 and vice versa. Per CMS, "The purpose of GEMS is to create a useful, practical code to code translation reference dictionary for both code sets, and to offer acceptable translation alternatives wherever possible."  CMS indicates that "The translations are based on the meaning of the code as contained in the tabular instruction, index entries, and applicable Coding Clinic advice. They were developed independently without reference to Medicare data."

As such, the GEMS are not a true crosswalk. They are GENERAL equivalence mappings and are not SPECIFIC for any specific type of patient that would have previously had a certain ICD-9 diagnosis. Because mapping from ICD-9 to ICD-10 can create significant errors in coding, we suggest mapping the clinical terminology actually used in documentation instead. The SOAPware ICD-10 STOP ^tm Method offers this option as a generally more efficient and accurate approach.

For more information about the GEMS and for a list of Frequently Asked Questions, please visit: General Equivalence Mappings Frequently Asked Questions.

SOAPware has added a new feature that will allow our users to access the 2015 GEMS directly from dual-coded ICD-9/ICD-10 codes and all ICD-10 codes.  To access the GEMS for a Diagnosis, follow the steps below:

1. Enter either a dual-coded Dx SMARText Item or an ICD-10 coded SMARText Item into the Summary Active Problems or SOAPnote Assessment field.
2. Click on the ICD10 sub-item to access the list of GEMS.
3. The available forward mapping (ICD-9 to ICD-10) GEMS will display in the SMARText Quick Access List.
4. To select and insert one of the ICD-10 codes, double-click on the desired option.

Users provided us with a great deal of feedback regarding the need to have a feature that would allow an easier conversion of ICD-9 codes in the Active Problems field to ICD-10.  Using this feedback, SOAPware has added a feature that will allow the user to right-click over a diagnosis that does not contain an ICD-10 code and choose a new option, "ICD 10 - Search by Keywords".

This new option will conduct a keyword comparison of the ICD-9 code with available ICD-10 codes.  It will then present the user with a list of ICD-10 codes to choose from that include matching keywords.

An additional SMARText Filter has been added to the F11 and Shift + F11 search dialog.  This will allow the user to filter their search results based on two keywords.  For example, the user who is searching for an ICD-10 Dx for Chronic serous otitis media, bilateral, may want to perform the Shift + F11 search on "otitis", while also filtering their search using "serous" and "bilateral".

To assist the user with ensuring that codes are updated, SOAPware has added a features that will place the word "OBSOLETE" in the description of the diagnosis if it is an item that needs to be removed and redownloaded.