The race is on for ICD-10

According to this week’s news, the race is on. The healthcare industry is starting to take seriously the ICD-10 implementation deadline of Oct. 1, 2014.

The results of the HIMSS/WEDI ICD-10 National Pilot Program indicate that any entity touched by the approaching deadline for the new coding system should focus on testing.

"ICD-10-CM/PCS touches almost every aspect of the healthcare continuum," the authors wrote. "All affected entities should be implementing and testing at this point in time. Create a strategy if planning has not begun. Build a solid structure surrounding internal and external testing, engage trading partners early, identify technical and business needs, and engage the business in developing 'day in the life' scenarios."

Average accuracy of the coders involved in the program was 63 percent, with some instances of 100 percent accuracy (e.g., "single live born,  born in the hospital, delivered by Caesarean section"); others (e.g., "pain of the limb") received a 33 percent accuracy score because specificity and laterality were not included.

The authors suggested that providers organizations consider participating in the National Testing Program.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) may be open to conducting ICD-10 end-to-end testing with physician offices. In the past, the agency said it was confident that its current testing was adequate to handle the new bill coding system but several organizations have expressed concern about the lack of testing. In July, the Medical Group Management Association said in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that it was “extremely concerned” about the lack of testing and had urged the agency to reverse this policy to avoid a “catastrophic” backlog of Medicare claims.

Is your organization on track with ICD-10 implementation? Please share your experience.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor