Taking advantage of the ICD-10 interim period

The ICD-10 delay could bolster working ties between providers and practices as they gear up for the new implementation date.

The ICD-10 delay could bolster working ties between providers and practices as they gear up for the new implementation date.

One of the larger issues facing the healthcare industry in the fallout of the ICD-10 delay has been how to continue progressing towards implementation without wasting resources. Extending the start date for the new coding system by an additional year has sent many providers and payers back to the drawing board for creating new schedules on how to best allocate staff, funding and other resources toward ICD-10 preparation. Consequently, many in the industry are worried that having to wait another 12 months will ultimately mean running into a series of problems, from financial waste to technical bugs.

EHR Intelligence has compiled a few guidelines that can help direct your practice's needs and resources during the interim from now until October 1, 2015:

  • Make use of CMS: Although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) may have taken their time in announcing the new deadline, they haven't, as the source notes, been completely idle over the last several weeks. Beginning in June, CMS will be providing educational sessions for providers. The federal agency has also published checklists that can help industry members parse what exactly needs to be accomplished in the months ahead.
  • More time to bolster ties with vendors: "With the extra time after the delay, some payers may be looking at different technical solutions and additional options, which is probably a good thing," Erik Newlin, co-chair for the ICD-10 Assessment Workgroup, told the source. "They might be able to do more robust transitional activities and have more time to test in ways that maybe they wouldn't have prior. And so perhaps we'll have fewer issues on the back end." While many hospitals were unsure that providers would be ready in time for 2014 deadline, the extra year could make the difference in proving them wrong.

Chiropractic clinics should invest their resources into new chiropractic documentation software that can accommodate ICD-10 without impeding their practice's day-to-day recordkeeping.

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