The Great New Frontier – ICD-10 Coding
By Denise Van Fleet, MSc, RHIA
After many years of agonizing wonderment, fear and trepidation, it is officially on the horizon for all HIM (Health Information Management) practitioners – The Great New Frontier of ICD-10 Coding which is set with an October 2013 implementation date. Some say it will be bigger than the year 2000 software changeover. It is also expected to have more complications and cost much more than Y2K. A lot is at risk for American Healthcare because coding is the driving and underlying force behind all healthcare reimbursement, and that represents a lot of money!
In regards to Health Information Management, ICD-10 generates a great deal of concern and just as with any challenge, the concern can best be dealt with by appropriate planning and by allotting adequate time to carry out the plan. My ideas for a possible plan include the following:
· Identify key components, people and issues.
· Name an ICD-10 roll-out team with HIM management as the team leader!
· Establish a timeline.
· Meet with software vendors who are expert with coding and ICD-10 ready
· Get the IS (Information Systems) department on board.
· Determine a budget and get Chief Financial Officer (CFO) approval.
· Create a training plan for coding management and coding staff.
· Train coders and test for them for both competency and timeliness in ICD-10 coding.
· Install software and test it. And test it. And test it.…..
· Celebrate your success!
The Great New Frontier of ICD-10 coding holds many great benefits including improved specificity of diagnosis and procedure coding and also the opportunity to improve healthcare revenue and advance nationwide healthcare statistics.
So ready up yer wagon, cowgirls and cowboys! HIM practitioners will need a dependable, fail proof, roll-out plan with all the essentials, including both time and money, for a successful ICD-10 deployment.