For many months now, the AAFP has urged family physicians to prepare for this year's Oct. 1 deadline for implementation of the ICD-10-CM code sets for outpatient diagnostic coding.

A big part of that preparation entails adequate end-to-end testing between hospitals, large health systems, independent physician practices and the health insurance companies who pay for a good deal of those health care services. In particular, it is important that the nation's largest private payers including UnitedHealthcare (UHC), Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) and Humana, are ready for the transition so payments to physicians are not delayed.