How ICD-10 Transition Will Benefit Your Practice

Previously, we talked about “How’s the ICD 10 transition after Day-60 so far“. And we learned that overall it was successful while others said that there was more better data but not more better healthcare, the billing codes are just taking away from patient care. However today, we will talk about how ICD-10 transition will benefit your practice and some lessons learned during the ICD-10 transition.

In an article written by Heather Landi from Healthcare Informatics, we will find out what Richard Averill, a senior healthcare policy advisor for 3M and a member of the Coalition for ICD-10’s governing board has to say on the long-term impact of ICD 10 transition. Here’s an excerpt of the article:

Benefits of the ICD 10 Transition

While the transition itself was viewed as disruptive and time-consuming at a time when healthcare organizations already were burdened with additional requirements, nevertheless,

• Many healthcare leaders see the transition as a major milestone in the evolving transformation of our 21^st century healthcare delivery system.
• The replacement of the ICD-9 code sets, which many viewed as obsolete, with the more modern ICD-10 ultimately results in the availability of better healthcare data, which can be leveraged, many believe, to improve patient outcomes and patient safety, lower healthcare costs and move forward with population health.

Averill sees ICD-10 as a nothing less than a fundamental and necessary building block in the ongoing transformation of healthcare delivery. He points out that the ICD-9 coding set has been in use since 1979 and a “system of a bygone era.” And as many hospitals and health systems forge ahead into the population health world, the ability to effectively analyze patient care data will be crucial.

The implementation of ICD-10 has a number of other advantages, such as:

• Greatly improved disease management
• The ability to track the efficacy of new medical technologies and devices, which had not been possible with the simplistic, four-digit codes with ICD-9
• The ability to detect new and emerging health threats, like Ebola — There was no code in ICD-9 for even tracking that Averill says, referring to the Ebola virus and a possible outbreak in the U.S. like the one that hit West Africa in 2014.
• The use of ICD-10 codes also will cut down on what he calls the “gigantic paper chase” for providers, as historically commercial payers have frequently asked for more information or additional details about a procedure when providers submit claims.

According to Averill, once ICD-10 is truly functional, we will have a more administratively simple claims processing system in terms of the interaction between payers and providers because the information that the payer or auditor needs will be contained in the code.

“I think a year from now, everyone will look back and say ‘We have a more logistical, more efficient, more fair payment system and  judgments on quality than we could have had under ICD-9 and people will look back on it in a positive way,” he says.

To read more about this update, visit http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/article/seeing-benefits-icd-10-transition-one-experts-view

ICD-10 Proficiency Assessment – Are You Ready? — Video

Lessons Learned From The ICD 10 Transition

A collection of experiences and lessons learned from healthcare professionals from the ICD-10 transition. Check out below:

Jeanne Hungerpiller, MD
Family medicine
Savannah, Georgia

Biggest ICD-10 obstacle (to date):  Ensuring that the ICD-10 code chosen is the most accurate one to replace the old ICD-9 code (mainly this happens when coding for Type 2 DM), and keeping my temper from flaring due to the amount of time I waste doing this.

Easiest ICD-10 obstacle (to date): Using our EHR’s search function to convert ICD-9 to ICD-10.

Best piece of advice to peers struggling with ICD-10:  Just wait—I think it may get worse when the insurance companies start getting pickier about precision in coding (sorry, I don’t think that’s what they want to hear, but I think it will be the case. I think anyone who isn’t feeling like they are struggling now is in for a bit of a surprise in the not-too-distant future).

Are you ready for ICD-11?  Oh, dear god, no!

Michael Boland, MD
Ophthalmologist
Baltimore, Maryland

Biggest ICD-10 obstacle (to date): Lengthy preparation

Easiest ICD-10 obstacle (to date): Selection of ICD-10 codes was made easy by the tools provided by our vendor .

Best piece of advice to peers struggling with ICD-10: There are better tools available for dealing with these codes. Ask your vendor whether they can provide them

Are you ready for ICD-11? No, thank you ;-)

Daniel Mark Siegel MD, MS

Dermatologist
Brooklyn, New York

Biggest ICD-10 obstacle (to date): Double checking the occasional bizarre ICD-10 match eClinicalworks finds

Best piece of advice to peers struggling with ICD-10: Get over it. You learned ICD-9; you can learn 10 and with technology it is easier.

Are you ready for ICD-11? The rest of the world will be in two years. The U.S.? 25 years … maybe?

Elizabeth Seymour, MD
Family medicine
Denton, Texas

Biggest ICD-10 obstacle (to date):  The constant updating, changing of more extensive codes requires a lot more time, and makes our days longer.

Best piece of advice to peers struggling with ICD-10: Purchase an EHR from a vendor that has history and experience with these transitions that are occurring in the medical field. They might be more expensive that other companies, but their price is worth it in the long run.

Are you ready for ICD-11? Absolutely not!

Mohammad Rafieetary, OD, FAAO
Optometrist
Germantown, Tennessee

Biggest ICD-10 obstacle (to date): Learning codes requiring laterality. (e.g. RT LT Bilateral)

Easiest ICD-10 obstacle (to date): Upgrade our software for ICD-10.

Best piece of advice to peers struggling with ICD-10: Invest in ICD-9 mapping and any ICD-10 coding program. Try to gain as much knowledge you can on all the requirements for all the codes.

Are you ready for ICD-11? No. We are still learning all the ICD-10 requirements (hopefully we all are retired by then).

Source: http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/lessons-learned-icd-10-transition?page=0,1

Now your turn! What has been your experiences so far with the transition of ICD-10? Do you feel the same experience like they do? OR the other way around? What piece of advice can you give to peers struggling with ICD-10? We love to hear your thoughts!

Related ICD 10 Transition Post:

• 20 Amusing and Bizarre New ICD-10 Codes?
• The ICD-10 Transition — How’s ICD-10 After Day 60?
• Take Your ICD 10 Training To The Next Level