What happens on December 31 in terms of RAF Score coding?

On December 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officially drops the codes that were used in the prior year for risk adjustment factor (RAF) scoring. This means that coding for risk adjustment must adhere to the most current coding guidelines and the latest set of codes as established by CMS for the upcoming year.

The elimination of outdated codes is necessary to ensure that risk adjustment processes remain relevant and accurately reflect the current healthcare landscape. This allows for improved data quality and ensures that providers are coding based on current disease classifications and treatment protocols. Therefore, any codes that are no longer valid cannot be used for risk adjustment purposes after this date, reinforcing the importance for healthcare providers and coders to stay updated on code changes each year.

In contrast, the other choices involve processes that either do not occur on December 31 or are not relevant to the RAF scoring. For example, new codes for the next year are added prior to the new year but do not happen specifically on December 31, and audit results are typically released at different times throughout the year, not tied to this date. Additionally, patient charts being permanently archived is not a standard practice related to coding or RAF scores and does not occur on this timeline.