GEMS and the Partial ICD-9 Code Freeze
July 6, 2011 – CMS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with collaboration from other organizations, created the national version of the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMS) to ensure that consistency in national data is maintained and to assist with the conversion from ICD-9-CM codes to the new upcoming ICD-10-CM codes. GEMS are tools that act as a crosswalk between the two code sets as the tools provide important information linking codes of one system with codes in the other system. In some instances, there is not a translation between an ICD-9-CM and an ICD-10-CM code and when this occurs, a “No Map” flag indicator is noted.
GEMS will allow you to look up an ICD-9 code and will provide you with the most appropriate ICD-10 matches and vice versa. These codes are not a substitute for learning the new ICD-10 codes but they can assist users doing the following:
- Translating lists of codes, code tables, or other data
- Converting a system or application containing ICD-9-CM codes
- Creating a one-to-one applied mapping between code sets that will be used in an ongoing way to translate records or other coded data
- Studying the differences in meaning between the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM classification systems by looking at theGEMS’entries for a given code or area of classification.
The GEMS are posted to the CMS ICD-10 website. Only the GEMS posted to the CMS website may be used for converting the codes, per the ACA. (Affordable Care Act)
Partial Code Freeze
In order to reduce the transition to ICD-10 less difficult, CMS will be implementing a partial diagnosis code freeze on October 1, 2011, which will be the last day for regular updates to both the ICD-9 and ICD-10 code sets.
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-CM 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.
On October 1, 2014, regular updates to ICD-10-CM will begin.
Information on GEMS, the partial code freeze and ICD-10 codes can be found by clicking below on the CMS website.
CMS ICD-10
Tags: ICD-10
