ICD-10 unlikely to be derailed, delayed or substantially changed: hospital CIO
Despite recent high-profile attempts to derail it, ICD-10 is likely to leave the station on Oct. 1, right on schedule. You’re better off learning it now than running to catch up with it later.
That’s the gist of a compelling message from a healthcare-provider CIO who has been urging fellow providers to take a “better safe than sorry” stance on ICD-10 implementation since last fall.
“By now, your coders should have had significant exposure to the ICD-10 schema, perhaps along with your registration and billing staff,” wrote Linda Reed, RN, of five-hospital Atlantic Health in New Jersey. “The training that needs to start without delay — and is possibly the most difficult — is for clinicians and physicians.”
Reed’s message posted May 15 in H&HN Daily, the blog of the American Hospital Association’s flagship publication, Hospitals & Health Networks.
Resistance to ICD-10 has been much in the news lately, most notably with Texas Rep. Ted Poe’s Cutting Costly Codes Act of 2015, the American Medical Association’s endorsement of Poe’s bill and, most recently, Tenn. Rep. Diane Black’s bill to keep the Oct. 1 launch but allow an 18-month grace period.
Reed encouraged fellow provider people to forge ahead despite the noise. “The good thing is that in addition to purchased tools, there is no shortage of free information and training materials,” she wrote, then listed a number of specific offerings. Click here to read her full post.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.