HIMSS: ICD-10 impacts everyone

NEW ORLEANS—“Everyone focuses on the increasing numbers of codes” that will come with the shift from ICD-9 to ICD-10, but the new coding system impacts everyone and everything from revenue cycle to patient access to health information management, said Tom Ormondroyd, MBA, vice president and general manager of elearning solutions for Precyse during an educational session at the Health Information Management and Systems Society annual convention.

“Anyone who has anything to do with a code needs education,” he said. “Anyone who documents or supports documentation needs education.” While many ICD-10 codes are seven characters, there are many that are accurate at just three or four characters. People need to know that so they don’t think someone else along the stream has made a mistake. “That can create a bottleneck which we don’t need in the face of decreased coding productivity.”

Ormondroyd cited a study conducted by consulting firm The Advisory Board that found an average impact of ICD-10 of $2.5-$7.1 million over three years for a medium-sized hospital. Precyse’s assessment efforts identified more than 50 impacted populations within a hospital, he said. That includes even human resources. If you’re trying to hire new coders, how will you know that they really know ICD-10? he asked.

Effective ICD-10 education requires a wide range of approaches. “Everyone learns differently. Try to make it fun.” Ormondroyd also advised his audience to establish methods to evaluate the effectiveness of your education.