ICD-10 & Coding

Before you know it, the ICD-10 go-live date of October 2014 will be here, and for those 55 percent of physicians who have yet to begin implementation, it's looking like a rocky road ahead.

This year's Medical Group Management Association annual conference is all about getting down to the nitty-gritty, said Robert Tennant, MGMA's senior policy advisor.

Updating hardware and implementing software programs are perhaps the most visible elements of the digital transition, but an equally important shift is happening more or less behind the scenes in the world of coding.

Healthcare providers may face disruptions in their payments even if they are on target to operate using ICD-10 codes on Oct. 1, 2014. Experts advise having up to several months' cash reserves or access to cash through a loan or line of credit to avoid potential headaches.

SNOMED was so important to healthcare's switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 medical coding, ONC Chief Farzad Mostashari, MD says, that he was willing to support the one-year delay to achieve the necessary crosswalks. This system of nomenclature can lay the groundwork and foundation for much better, more granular clinical documentation, he said.

If there was an overarching theme at the HIMSS Media/Healthcare IT News ICD-10 Forum on June 17, it was this: Don't wait to get your house in order for ICD-10. Though the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline for the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 is more than a year away, most of that time will be required for getting ready, experts warn.

Healthcare reform, accountable care organizations, readmissions and reimbursement rates are just a few of the challenges facing today's healthcare leaders, according to a new report from ECRI Institute, a non-profit evidence-based practice center.

Whether the compliance deadline delay announced last February by the Department of Health and Human Services stalled progress on ICD-10, or provided an opportunity to hone implementation timelines, all depends on where a particular healthcare organization was prior to that announcement.

When Medicomp chief executive officer David Lareau hears U.S. chief technology officer Todd Park talk about the need to find the right technology to set data free and make it usable, Lareau wants to tell him he has just the thing.

The omnibus HIPAA Privacy and Security final rule released by HHS on Jan. 17 answered some questions, provided necessary guidance in certain areas -- but some of the thorniest issues, data breach notification among those, are still cryptic enough that lawyers and privacy officers will still face difficult judgment calls every time a laptop is lost or stolen.