The American Health Information Management Association leadership wants to be clear: Even though it will cost millions of dollars and the process is likely to be disruptive, U.S. healthcare must embrace a new, expanded code for diagnostics and billing.
Proponents like AHIMA and the American Hospital Association say the new code will bring the healthcare system into the 21st Century. It will also replace an ICD-9 code set that is broken.
"It could have serious, serious ramifications for our healthcare data," said Sue Bowman, AHIMA's director of coding, during this week's AHIMA convention in Seattle.
"It's pay me now or pay me later," added Jill Dennis, AHIMA's senior vice president.
Dennis and Bowman were among AHIMA executives who spoke at a Monday press conference.
The idea is to get all of healthcare on board, but several professional associations - the Medical Group Management Association among them - say the Oct. 1, 2011 deadline proposed by the government is unworkable.
The ICD-10 coding set "is designed to produce better public health and vital statistics (information), not to be used in billing," said William F. Jessee, MD, president and CEO of the MGMA, during a recent interview with Healthcare IT News. "Its rapid implementation will literally paralyze the healthcare insurance payment system. It will make HIPAA implementation look like a cakewalk."
Linda Kloss, AHIMA's chief execution officer, looks at it another way.
"I think we have to frame this as essential infrastructure investment,' she said. "Without the change that supports more and better data, we won't realize the value of the investment in the electronic health record."
"We do believe it's possible to move our country in a three-year period, Kloss added. "There's a downside to dragging this thing out."
The longer the country delays in implementing a new coding system, "the more information systems and software programs will need to be converted retroactively resulting in higher conversion costs projected for hospitals, physicians and other healthcare entities," she concluded.
Dan Rode, AHIMA's vice president in charge of policy, said it's necessary to "define an implementation date. He expects the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will set a firm deadline by mid-December.
Dennis said AHIMA has helped its members navigate big changes in the past, including the introduction of the HIPAA mandates. She's confident it can do the same with the conversion to the new coding set.
AHIMA is gearing up to offer training during the transition, resources on its Web site and a 2009 summit that will address transition planning in a variety of healthcare settings.
What most concerns you about the upcoming conversion from ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes? Send your comments to Editor Bernie Monegain at bernie.monegain@metechpublishing.com.