Moving into 2014, many health care providers will be faced with multiple Challenges in Radiology throughout the year. Specifically, radiology practices have a few new obstacles along the way that will affect the industry itself.
ICD-10 implementation
The biggest monster of 2014 will be the compliance deadline for ICD-10 transition set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. There’s no getting around it this time – unlike the stages of meaningful use, it’s highly unlikely that CMS will extend the implementation of the new codes. ICD-10 allows for more detail and specificity when it comes to diagnostic imaging for radiologists’ patients. As a result, providers and their staff need to pay more attention to documentation and improve the quality of their reporting. Injuries like fractures will require radiologists to detail the limb where the fracture occurred, if it’s displaced or not and other pertinent data. Testing is the most effective form of preparation for radiologists and they should be conducting tests now to prepare for the Oct.1 deadline.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
When President Obama signed the ACA in 2010, it was believed that more Americans would enter the health care system after they were provided with affordable insurance coverage. The hope was that this would help boost revenue for practices. Since its release the new government-run health insurance program is beginning to see an uptick in enrollment. According to a report from U.S. News, more than 300,000 Americans have now signed up for insurance through the government’s site. Hopefully, this will lead to chances of increasing revenue for radiologists.
Patient engagement
Finally, providers of Digital Radiography should be working to get their patients more actively involved with their own care. One of the main objectives of meaningful use is patient engagement, and if radiologists want to receive reimbursements from CMS’ incentive program, they need to demonstrate their success. Providers need to provide a patient portal for individuals to access their electronic health records and medical appointment scheduling. Patient engagement will become increasingly important for radiology practices as the year progresses.
Demonstrating meaningful use, ICD-10 implementation and increasing patient engagement – these are just several of the challenges that the radiology industry will be facing in 2014. However, providers that stay up-to-date on developments should have less trouble navigating the obstacles they’ll encounter in the coming months.
Ronny Bachrach
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