Allscripts exec on ICD-10: 'Appropriate calm'

CHICAGO—Finally. It is finally time for ICD-10. Implementation will happen on Oct. 1 and “for the majority, I think it will go off without a hitch,” said John Beck, Allscripts vice president of revenue cycle solutions, speaking to Clinical Innovation + Technology.

Small practices might face bigger challenges because they “may not have taken this as seriously as they should have.”

Allscripts took advantage of the delay by distributing software to its 10,000 customers so they could implement by department, by location or whichever method they preferred. Most physicians already are coding in 10 and then the codes are mapped to ICD-9 on the practice management side, Beck said.

Those who didn’t recognize ICD-10 as a clinical event are the ones who will be trouble, he said. “Yes, it’s codes but clinical behavior had to change to get to the right level of specificity.”

The delay was the right delay, he said, but the problem with one is that some people then say it will never happen at all. But, “it’s not in anyone’s best interest to fight this anymore. There are much more important things to fight about.”

He acknowledged that the move to ICD-10 is a “transition event for everybody but it should be cut and dry by now. I think people are appropriately calm.”

Beck said HIMSS15 had great attendance and groups are in buying mode again. “They are seeking solutions beyond the core” such as population health and interoperability.

There’s no formula for how to switch to value-based reimbursement. “We’re inventing as we go so we’re seeing much more innovation,” Beck said. It’s also led to a shift in the market from three or four big companies with everything to a cottage industry and “that’s when it gets interesting.”

Being open and interoperable is a smart business thing to do, he said, but “it’s a shame it has to be forced. The whole point of being open is allowing people to connect.” Companies have to either own everything or participate in interoperability.