MMP Moves Ahead of ICD-10 Curve

Taking a proactive approach to ICD-10, Medical Management Professionals, Inc. (MMP), an Atlanta-based provider of billing and practice management services to hospital-based physicians, has made requisite software adjustments to comply with the transition to HIPAA ANSI ASC X12 Version 5010. Health care providers must begin using the ANSI ASC X12 5010 coding format as of January 1, 2012. MMP has also obtained third-party certification for claims submission, and is currently testing and submitting claims to Medicare carriers and other commercial payors that are also using the new format. The provider began actively submitting claims in the new 5010 format last month, but commenced testing it in 2010. To help ensure its transactions are compliant with the new 5010 standards and regulations required for electronic claims submissions, as of March 24, 2011, the company obtained third-party certification from Claredi®, a HIPAA testing solution for pre-production transaction testing and certification. As an active participant in industry workgroups, MMP also communicates with CMS regarding current industry adoption status and advocate for improvements among industry sectors that are falling behind. “From an industry standpoint, MMP is ahead of the ICD-10-CM curve because the current X12 Version 4010 A1 format will not support ICD-10-CM,” states Darrell Hulsey, president and CEO. “We are not only working with payors to smoothly transition out of the current claims submittal format, but we are also perfecting the new 5010 format with an ultimate goal to be compliant with new ICD-10-CM standards before they are implemented on October 1, 2013.”