We are restarting our ICD-10 project – confirming payors for testing, arranging training, etc. and are in pretty good shape as we’ve all done this before – right? Unfortunately, there are some groups that are disinterested and difficult to engage. Add to that the buzz around a potential delay until 2017 and some folks question what are the right next steps. What do you think? And, if you think keep going – how are you keeping folks engaged and mitigating any risk another potential delay might bring? Saving Changes...
Gregory Brown PMPDirector, Enterprise Program Development| Cerner - Tiger InstituteColumbia, Mo, United States
Yes, per AHIMA, Representatives Upton and Sessions are drafting legsilation to try to postpone ICD-10 until 2017. Industry insiders say there isn't enough clout for this to happen like it did in 2014. There is always the possibliity that this could be added on to something else like it was to Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) legislation in 2014. SGR had to be passed and ICD-10 was slipped into that must pass legislation.
The organization I work for is forging ahead. We have invested too much in capital dollars, operational dollars, and psychic time to not move forward as if ICD-10 was a certainty. I think it would be a huge mistake to roll the dice banking on another delay in ICD-10 and then that not happening.
At our organizaiton we are getting the wheels turning again. We've re-engaged our champions, our steering teams, our workgroups, and everything else we had in place. We are prepping to deliver education as well as doing mock cutovers and doing what we can for payor and vendor testing.
The bottom line is that this means the United States catches up with the rest of the developed countries in the world in having a common codeset that can be used internationally. This will provide us with better documentation and better documentation means better DRGs, better billing opportunities, and most importantly better outcomes for our patients. Saving Changes...
"When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us."
