By Ken Congdon
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If Congress didn’t pass the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 in April, we’d be transitioning to ICD-10 right about now. However, as we all know, the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline was pushed back a year as part of this legislation. Many providers were relieved by this stay of execution because they weren’t prepared. Others were miffed because they felt they wasted several months and millions of dollars readying themselves for a coding overhaul that never happened. In either case, the message to providers from CMS and associations like AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) has been to use the extra time to your advantage. In other words, if you were unprepared for ICD-10 prior to the deadline extension, use this time to get your house in order. If you were ready for the ICD-10 transition this year, use the time to add training and testing to your ICD-10 transition plan.
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If Congress didn’t pass the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 in April, we’d be transitioning to ICD-10 right about now. However, as we all know, the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline was pushed back a year as part of this legislation. Many providers were relieved by this stay of execution because they weren’t prepared. Others were miffed because they felt they wasted several months and millions of dollars readying themselves for a coding overhaul that never happened. In either case, the message to providers from CMS and associations like AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) has been to use the extra time to your advantage. In other words, if you were unprepared for ICD-10 prior to the deadline extension, use this time to get your house in order. If you were ready for the ICD-10 transition this year, use the time to add training and testing to your ICD-10 transition plan.
This is a nice sentiment, but unfortunately, it doesn’t reflect reality. In most scenarios, the latest delay will prompt healthcare providers to put ICD-10 on the back burner and focus instead on more pressing initiatives like Meaningful Use (MU). This trend is already evident in data gathered as part of our 2014 Community Hospital Health IT Survey. In this annual survey, we ask community hospital leaders to name their top health IT initiative. EHR MU was cited as the top IT project both this year and last year, accounting for more than 68 percent of responses in each case. However, in 2013, ICD-10 was clearly not top of mind with providers, being mentioned as the top IT priority by 21.3 percent of community hospitals surveyed. This year, following the latest ICD-10 delay, this percentage dropped to a shockingly low 2.5 percent.
Not only is procrastination a common provider (and human) behavior, but healthcare organizations have also grown more distrustful of the government in light of the latest ICD-10 delay. ICD-10 has become an elusive quest, and many providers are doubtful that the new Oct. 1, 2015 deadline will stick. Because of this skepticism, some providers aren’t giving ICD-10 the attention it deserves.
The latest delay will prompt healthcare providers to put ICD-10 on the back burner and focus instead on more pressing initiatives like Meaningful Use.
From where I sit, ICD-10 is inevitable, and future delays are highly unlikely. For one, the U.S. needs to adopt ICD-10 in order to fully engage in global efforts to gather and share data regarding healthcare, including infectious diseases such as Ebola. As quick as critics are to poke fun at the absurdity of some ICD-10 codes (e.g., W61.62XD: Struck by duck, subsequent encounter), it’s frightening to think that no specific code exists for a global epidemic such as Ebola in our current ICD-9 code set. Secondly, the ability for other key healthcare initiatives, such as the Affordable Care Act and MU, to improve care and cut costs relies heavily on ICD-10-based reporting.
In light of this, my message to providers is similar to that of CMS, AHIMA, and others. Don’t lose sight of ICD-10. Keep it in your crosshairs. As unrealistic as it may seem, it’s in your best interest. For an in-depth look at how one provider is preparing for ICD-10 in light of the delay, read our Q&A with Adelaide LaRosa, System Director of HIM at Catholic Health Services of Long Island.
If Congress didn’t pass the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 in April, we’d be transitioning to ICD-10 right about now. However, as we all know, the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline was pushed back a year as part of this legislation. Many providers were relieved by this stay of execution because they weren’t prepared. Others were miffed because they felt they wasted several months and millions of dollars readying themselves for a coding overhaul that never happened. In either case, the message to providers from CMS and associations like AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) has been to use the extra time to your advantage. In other words, if you were unprepared for ICD-10 prior to the deadline extension, use this time to get your house in order. If you were ready for the ICD-10 transition this year, use the time to add training and testing to your ICD-10 transition plan.
If Congress didn’t pass the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 in April, we’d be transitioning to ICD-10 right about now. However, as we all know, the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline was pushed back a year as part of this legislation. Many providers were relieved by this stay of execution because they weren’t prepared. Others were miffed because they felt they wasted several months and millions of dollars readying themselves for a coding overhaul that never happened. In either case, the message to providers from CMS and associations like AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) has been to use the extra time to your advantage. In other words, if you were unprepared for ICD-10 prior to the deadline extension, use this time to get your house in order. If you were ready for the ICD-10 transition this year, use the time to add training and testing to your ICD-10 transition plan.
