Don't rule out chaos for next year's ICD-10 deadline, or maybe plan on it, if the latest readiness research is any indication.
According to the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange's survey findings, the overarching message continues:
"Unless all industry segments make a dedicated effort to move forward with their implementation," WEDI Chair Jim Daley explained, "there will be significant disruption on Oct. 1, 2015."
That sage prediction is anything other than new -- nonetheless it is still true particularly because WEDI's findings show that "the delay has negatively impacted provider practices," such that some 66 percent of the 324 providers surveyed have either slowed efforts or put them on hold.
The survey also found:
1. Just half of the providers polled say they've completed impact assessments -- a percentage that's essentially unchanged since this time last year, according to WEDI. About two-fifths either expect to complete their assessments in 2015, or are unsure when. Larger providers are in better shape on this front, while most smaller providers still have ground to make up.
2. About one-third of providers say they've started external testing. But in the October 2013 survey, three-fifths had expected to be doing that by mid-2014. In this latest survey, more than half said they weren't sure, or would begin the process in 2015. Again, smaller providers were more likely to be unsure of their plans.
3. As for vendors, they're showing improvement over the previous survey: About two-fifths said they've completed product development, and another third are at least three-quarters there. Fewer than 10 percent reported being halfway or less than halfway complete.
4. Some two-thirds of vendors said their products are already available, but more than one-quarter said their ICD-10 tools would most likely not be ready until 2015.
5. Payers are best-prepared. Nearly three-quarters of health plans say they've finished with their impact assessment and another 17 percent or so were nearly complete.
6. As for testing, more than half of the plans have begun external testing -- that's a big jump compared with fewer than one-quarter of them in the prior survey, according to WEDI. Still, another 25 percent or so of payers don't plan to start external testing until 2015.
7. With regard to external testing approach: Roughly three-fifths of health plans say they'll interface with a small sample of their providers; one-fifth say they'll test with a majority of them; a handful of payers reported they'd only test with clearinghouses.
WEDI's survey findings circulated during the same week as a Capitol Hill briefing on ICD-10, wherein the likes of the American Health Information Management Association and the Coalition for ICD-10 made arguments in favor of keeping the Oct. 1, 2015 deadline based on the new for more codes and ICD-10's merits.
Then again, those and other industry associations have invested considerable sums into creating ICD-10 education, training, products and services and, as such, have plenty to lose if ICD-10 gets delayed again.