ICD-10 & Coding
Even if the ICD-10 compliance date is farther away than it once was, it will arrive eventually. (For real, this time. We think.) And while you'd be forgiven for taking a foot off the proverbial gas, this is time that should be spent pushing ahead with preparedness plans.
Simply put, most revenue cycle management systems aren't suited for a future where providers are paid for quality, not volume. That, coupled with increasing hospital consolidation and the fact that the "the average system out there is quite old," means the entire concept of RCM is due for a shakeup.
In the conference room of a D.C.-area hotel, Rob Gibran rose from one of many round tables, waited in line, stepped up to a mic, and called for an impromptu vote. Does anyone believe ICD-10 is ever really going to become part of the American healthcare system? Not one of the 100 attendees at WEDI's ICD-10 emergency summit raised a hand.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said late Thursday it expects the Department of Health and Human Services to "release an interim final rule in the near future that will include a new compliance date that would require the use of ICD-10 beginning October 1, 2015."
Pushing off testing is only one of the unintended consequences triggered by delaying ICD-10. Organizations now have to reassess the project and redefine their requirements, and many will have to find resources to do that.
Premier is calling for a date certain on the implementation of ICD-10 billing codes, joining others like AHIMA in pressing CMS to set a new start date for conversion of medical and billing codes from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
The American Health Information Management Association's 2014 ICD-10 and Computer Assisted Coding Summit featured the latest industry reaction to the ICD-10 delay. It was one of frustration and disappointment.
KLAS spoke with more than 100 providers for the recently published ICD-10 consulting services report, in which providers revealed who they used for ICD-10 assessments/road maps, implementation/PMO resources, on-site training, eLearning and application testing. KLAS re-contacted several of these providers to ask how the delay will affect their strategy. Guess who is relieved, and who is frustrated.
The news that someone slipped a provision into the Sustainable Growth Rate patch legislation that will once again delay the transition to ICD-10 is disappointing, and symptomatic of the seemingly unreliable relationship that exists between providers, technology vendors and the government.
It took the Senate nearly five hours Mar. 31 to debate and approve a bill that would temporarily fix the SGR and also delay ICD-10 one year. The curious -- and disconcerting -- thing is, during that time not a single Senator made mention of the ICD-10 provision included in the bill, leaving many industry officials questioning: Do they even know what they just voted on? Either way, overall the folks in healthcare were not very happy.