The HIMSS G7 recently published an Advisory Report entitled “Implementing ICD-10 by the Compliance Date: A Call to Action.”
If you are unfamiliar with HIMSS G7, they are a thought leadership group made up of various stakeholders including, by not limited to, healthcare providers, health plans, banks, information technology firms, government representatives, employers and consumers.
My response to this recent report: I agree!
The HIMSS G7 has brought forth 4 crucial recommendations. Everyone involved with ICD-10 implementation can contribute to making them a reality. Here’s what I’m doing:
Recommendation #1: Achieve broad stakeholder support for an ICD-10 Pilot Program with end-to-end business process testing.
The call from HIMSS G7 to implement regional ICD-10 solution centers is crucial for mitigating significant revenue impacts. Scenarios, lessons learned, timelines, result comparisons, etc., are essential to everyone’s success. At my client, we’re forming and endorsing state-wide partnerships between providers, payers, and governmental agencies to further a non-competitive agenda associated with implementing ICD-10. We aren’t the only ones taking this approach, and any attempt at regional ICD-10 solution centers can be jumpstarted by identifying and helping build-out these voluntary efforts. We’re finding value in what we’ve done thus far, and we’d like to see further expansion.
Recommendation #2: Accelerate vendor readiness supporting health plans, providers, and other vendors.
The call from HIMSS G7 for vendors to provide readiness information to a single, easily accessible source is invaluable to the broad spectrum of organizations – from the large organizations managing countless vendors and integration points, to the small organizations with resource limitations and straight-forward information needs. At my client, we use VitalWare and the PlayBook as contributors to our scope, approach, and timeline. While every organization and system implementation is unique, these tools put us on the correct path and we’d like to see further expansion.
Recommendation #3: Significantly expand education focused on independent physician groups and providers.
The commitment from HIMSS G7 to provide comprehensive and credible educational tools is most welcomed – and we’ll look for them. At my client, we’re focused heavily on engaging the right clinicians, at the right organizational level, in a timely fashion, with meaningful and specific needs. It is a unique and sensitive situation; and it requires specificity in order to keep this overwhelming transition as underwhelming as possible. These educational tools will help healthcare providers and ICD-10 program leaders meet the challenges ahead, especially if they are consistent nationally.
Recommendation #4: Recognize the Cooperating Parties, which include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), National Center for Health Statistics, (NCHS), American Hospital Association (AHA), and American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) as the “single source of truth” for accurate and consistent coding.
The call from HIMSS G7 for the aforementioned Cooperating Parties to more proactively address the forecasted volume of needed ICD-10 assistance will help on multiple fronts. I’d almost suggest the list be expanded. Regardless, we need our federal agencies and professional organizations to demonstrate a stronger unanimous commitment to the ICD-10 initiative. At my client, we are doing our best to show our clinicians and staffers the value of ICD-10 (and we are acknowledging the pain that will accompany the implementation). The value is there – further delays and continued disconnects will only make the value more obvious and the implementation more expensive.
Brien Keller
Senior Manager
Strategic Advisory Services
brienkeller@santarosaconsulting.com