ICD-10 PROVIDER READINESS

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is a nonprofit organization focused on the use of health IT (Information Technology) to improve healthcare information exchange; enhancing quality of care, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

According to their March 3, 2015 letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) WEDI reported concerns that many remain unready for the ICD-10 implementation in October. They stated that in their February 2015 ICD-10 readiness Survey that the primary obstacle to compliance was the uncertainty around further delays in the implementation date.

They went on to state that:

According to WEDI:
"Based on the survey results, it appears the delay has had a negative impact on some readiness activities. Uncertainty over further delays was listed as a top obstacle across all industry segments. Some tasks have slipped into 2015,  particularly those related to testing.

It appears clear that while the delay provided more time for the transition to ICD-10, many organizations did not take full advantage of this additional time.

We assert that unless all industry segments make a dedicated and aggressive effort to move forward with their implementation efforts in the next few months, there will be significant disruption to industry claims processing on Oct 1, 2015. Regardless, we encourage all organizations to establish plans for addressing any unforeseen events that may occur during the transition."

To read the full comment letter and survey results go to WEDI website at: http://www.wedi.org/docs/resources/full-comment-letterand-survey-results.pdf?sfvrsn=0

Source: e-medbill.com