In anticipation of the October 1, 2014 ICD-10 implementation deadline, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will conduct end-to-end testing of ICD-10 claims prior to the implementation date. A Medicare Learning Network article, also released this week, describes CMS’s phased approach to testing.

March 3-7, 2014 – Acknowledgement Testing: CMS will allow providers, billing companies and clearinghouses to submit claims using ICD-10 codes. These claims will not be process or paid – rather CMS will send the submitter an “acknowledgement” to confirm whether or not the claim was accepted by the CMS system.

Summer 2014 – End-to-End Testing: CMS will offer end-to-end testing to a small sample of providers. These claims will be processed and a remittance advice will be send to the claim submitter. More details about end-to-end testing will be published in the coming months.