Speech Impacts ICD-10 Compliance

By Cindy Dubin, Contributor

One healthcare organization describes how it is getting ready for the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 and how speech recognition will improve documentation productivity with EMRs.

October 1, 2014, is a day circled in red on the healthcare industry’s calendar. This is the day that ICD-9 code sets will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets.

ICD-10 has the potential to affect the entire cycle of care delivery. “ICD-10 is similar to Y2K in that systems will need to be remediated and tested. Yet it involves so much more than changing technology,” according to Craig Kappel of Ernst & Young LLP. “The impact on finances, operations, clinical processes, and people is unprecedented. This is not a compliance exercise by any stretch of the imagination. This is an organization-wide business process transformation.”

While ICD-10 is coming quickly, little progress has been made toward transitioning, according to the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI). Out of nearly 1,000 respondents to a recent WEDI survey, which included EHR vendors, health plans, and physician providers, half of respondents said they were less than halfway through product development, and only 50% of health plans have completed their impact assessments as of March.

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