The 10th version of the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems – more commonly known as ICD-10 – has been a long-time coming. Despite being first proposed for October 2011, the new coding system still has not made its way to medical facilities. After a number of delays, ICD-10 is due to be fully implemented on Oct. 1. However, many health care providers still may not be ready for the new system.
Changes required with ICD-10
After implementation, ICD-10 should improve patient care and hospital operations. However, to get to that point, health care providers at both hospitals and physicians' practices must make a number of changes to their current procedures. There will also be two versions of the system: one for all providers and one strictly for hospitals, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services explained. In ICD-10, there will be approximately 55,000 more codes to better specify diagnoses in all systems. This new version is meant to make patient care easier and to provide a better way to classify health conditions.
However, ICD-10 will require training for people in all departments, as the new system affects data input and payments, and medical appointment scheduling. According to Tom Garcia, M.D., the president of the Texas Medical Association, in a statement, the U.S. is the only country to make payments reliant on ICD-10, which means health care providers will need to ensure they are entering codes correctly to bill patients and insurance companies correctly and receive payments from Medicare.
Providers must prepare for new system
Despite the necessity of successfully implementing ICD-10 by Oct. 1, not everyone is prepared. According to a survey from the Texas Medical Association, 65 percent of responding physicians do not believe they are ready for the switch. Only 10 percent are "very confident" that they and their practices are prepared for ICD-10. Nearly 75 percent either have not started or have just begun to implement the new system. This may cause problems in the upcoming weeks.
The implementation of ICD-10 has already been delayed several times, and those postponements have not benefited the medical community, the Coalition for ICD-10 claimed. They have given health care providers the option to wait until now to attempt to prepare their facilities, which will only lead to inefficiencies after Oct. 1. These delays have also been costly, as too much time has been put into discussion, finalization and implementation for ICD-10 to be pushed back again. According to the source, the CMS estimated the additional costs from one delay to be nearly $7 billion, a 30 percent increase in expenses. The start date has already been postponed twice. Another time could push costs well past their acceptability.
The American Hospital Association recently released a checklist to help health care providers prepare for the upcoming switch to ICD-10. Hospitals and doctors' practices should ensure their computer programs are updated and can handle the new system. Staff should be trained and evaluated to prepare them enough so the change does not affect the workplace too much. External partners must also be ready for ICD-10, so medical facilities should check with insurance companies, workers compensation and similar organizations to ensure they are prepared. Even after ICD-10 has been implemented, health care providers should track the progress and efficiency of their departments and of their partners.
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Ronny Bachrach
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