WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced a deadline of October 1, 2011, for the industry to convert to ICD-10 for coding diagnoses and treatment.
Advocating – as many stakeholders are doing – for a deadline extension aside, “the earlier you start the conversion process, the more you can potentially bring the cost of implementation down,” said Mark Williams, a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Williams said that with CMS not dictating how to convert, organizations will likely fall into two camps – taking a minimalist approach to be compliant or making strategic investments that provide business value.
“Forward-thinking clients understand they are running a business and need to invest for the future,” he said.
Organizations need to conduct an initial impact assessment to determine what current and planned projects will be impacted by the conversion, Williams said. Elements of ICD-10 need to be incorporated into these projects, and the organization needs to be examined in terms of people, processes and technology.
The Health Care Service Corp. (HCSC) conducted an initial, high-level though comprehensive assessment in early 2008. HCSC has embarked on a proactive approach because of its responsibility to its members and to provide quality services, said Joseph Nicholson, MD, vice president and CMO.
“As a large payer, we recognized that this was imminent and would have a large impact on our organization,” said Jerry Kneller, senior director for HCSC’s internal governance services.
The next step is to “dig deeper” to look at business requirements, specifically the impact of mapping and design issues, he said. Eventually, HCSC will examine the impact on its external stakeholders, including vendors and providers.
While HCSC is gathering data, Nicholson said that the process is helping the organization be more efficient in its implementation.
“We didn’t wait for the mandate to start our assessment,” he said. “We continue to move forward so we are maximally positioned to meet targets on these mandates.”
Williams said the industry understands the importance of ICD-10 conversion. In a statement, Tony Trenkle, director of CMS’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services, said ICD-10 is critical to “improving the quality of healthcare and promoting HIT adoption.”