On October 1, 2015, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets. To help physicians prepare for this transition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be conducting a national testing week, from November 17 to 21, 2014.

This testing week will give trading partners access to the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) for testing with real-time help desk support.

While participants will not be able to conduct true end-to-end testing at this time, they will be able to test whether the contractor received a claim and learn whether it was accepted or rejected. The testing will not allow participants to determine whether the claim will be paid or if payment will be reduced.

Although registration is not required to participate, physicians should contact their local MAC (Noridian in California) for more information about how to submit test claims. Physicians participating in the testing will be able to determine their practices' readiness for ICD-10 implementation and provide CMS with data to help the agency prepare for industry-wide use of the code set next fall.

Two additional ICD-10 claims acknowledgment testing weeks will take place next year in March and June. CMS will be conducting more robust end-to-end testing with a limited number of physicians and other health care providers next year.

Additional information and resources to help physicians get ready for ICD-10 are available on the AMA ICD-10 Web page.