By Deborah Grider, Senior Manager at Blue and Company and industry expert on ICD-10

Have you ever invited friends over for dinner, only to realize that because you were looking at the "cook time" and ignoring the "prep time" it was going to take much longer than you expected? That can be embarrassing, but it's nothing compared to being a healthcare facility that finds itself unprepared for ICD-10. And, like finding out that your friends are coming an hour later than expected, HHS recently made its final determination to push back the ICD-10 implementation date to October 1, 2014. But that doesn't mean you can sit for another year before taking action; it's a chance for all those businesses that are behind to catch up to where they should be.

By now you should have a steering committee formed, with an overall plan in place for your implementation. But for those who are still struggling with organizing your preparations, I'd like to share a few tips that can help you get back on track. Here are ten ways to make sure you're not left behind when it's time for ICD-10 to go live.

One of the most important things you can do is to keep all of your executive stakeholders current on your progress as you prepare for implementation. This includes executives, the steering committee, and sub-committees. Not only will everyone remain on the same page this way, but constant reminders will help them keep on track with their responsibilities.

In addition to regular reminders, continue to meet monthly with your ICD-10 steering committee. By meeting with all stakeholders together, you can quickly make decisions and discuss the challenges each part of the business is facing.

Conducting an impact assessment is a foundational step toward implementation. Make sure to analyze each department to see how ICD-10 will impact it. The changes will extend far beyond just coding and billing.

A GAP/solutions analysis will further help you identify who ICD-10 will impact and what needs to be done to reach full readiness. This analysis will identify the gap between the current state of readiness and the end goal of full preparation.

A fully thought-out communications plan is vital to keep the preparation process on track. Because ICD-10 will affect everyone in the organization, regularly consider your timetable and keep the relevant people up-to-date on any changes.

The budget is one area where lack of preparation can lead to disaster. Everything from software to hardware to personnel needs should be evaluated as part of your implementation plan. Not only will you need to create an initial budget and do your best to stick to it, but you will need to regularly revisit the budget and make adjustments as circumstances do change. This is a particularly important reason not to delay preparations, as last-minute scrambling will put extreme stress on budgets.

Develop a comprehensive training plan for all employees, considering what aspects of their job will be affected by the change. This is more than just coders; many staff members across departments will need some form of training. Physicians, for example, will need to improve the specificity present in their documentation in order to give coders enough information to utilize the new codes.

An overall action plan is necessary to coordinate the timelines of each portion of implementation, as well as who is responsible for what. This plan should be clearly communicated to all parties involved.

As part of the action plan, develop a detailed breakdown of the work involved as your staff members prepare for 2014. This should include each task for individuals throughout the organization, updated regularly to record progress.

Finally, make sure your plan doesn't sit on the shelf or the hard drive of your computer. Make sure you are executing it, and that your staff is aware of their tasks. Check progress regularly to keep tasks from being delayed, and encourage everyone to do their part.

Like any complicated work we have to do, the road to ICD-10 can be made less daunting if it is broken up into manageable divisions. The most important thing to do is to start preparations immediately if you have not already. Work with your steering committee to make sure all the parts keep moving, and that you're not caught like the dinner host unprepared for guests.

Deborah Grider is a Senior Manager at Blue and Company and an industry expert on ICD-10.  She is the author of three ICD-10 publications for the American Medical Association and an Approved AHIMA ICD-10 Training and a Certified Clinical Documentation Improvement Practitioner as well as holds several coding and auditing credentials.  She testified in 2009 at the December National Committee on Health Vital Statistics on the challenges providers face with ICD-10 Implementation.