Coder productivity down in wake of ICD-10 transition
As critics predicted, the ICD-10 transition is negatively impacting inpatient and outpatient coder productivity at hospitals of all sizes and types.
Outsourcing vendor HIMagine Solutions has been collecting data on a weekly basis from several clients since the Oct. 1 ICD-10 implementation date. The numbers show significant declines in hospital coder productivity during October compared to AHIMA's ICD-9 productivity standards.
According to the data, large academic facilities are seeing an average of 40 percent reduction in inpatient coder productivity and reductions in outpatient coder productivity ranging from 10 to 35 percent. Large hospitals (over 250 beds) are seeing a 30 to 45 percent decline on the inpatient side and a 20 to 40 percent decrease on the outpatient side.
Community hospitals (under 250 beds) are experiencing inpatient coder productivity reductions of 22 to 33 percent and reductions ranging between 35 and 40 percent on the outpatient side.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.