Making the most of the ICD-10 delay

With Congress delaying the date for ICD-10 compliance to Oct. 1, 2015, you have a great opportunity to re-assess your organization's implementation progress.

Now is the time to make sure these six crucial tasks are on your ICD-10 punch list:

1. Use the delayed compliance date to re-assess every aspect of your plan. Routinely meet with those involved in the implementation to review readiness and keep active tasks underway. There's no need to continue activities at a breakneck pace, but you don't want members of your team to lose momentum. Consider the extra year an opportunity to improve your preparedness, not additional time to delay action.
2. Extend your education and training plan. As with all strategic technology and process changes, your staff's preparedness is the key to success. Use the extra time you're afforded to expand your training and readiness programs — documentation training for clinical staff, code training for support staff who routinely work with codes, and overview training for administrative personnel. Consider the cost and time of education and training as a form of insurance to protect your investment in ICD-10 compliance. It may save you considerable time and money in the future.
3. Revise your financial plan. There are a number of financial risks and considerations associated with ICD-10 compliance. Beyond the cost of upgrading systems and technology, there are risks to consider regarding DRG shifts, accounts receivable delays and loss of revenue due to deceased coding productivity. Many of these risks are managed over time, but could have negative impact when the cutover date arrives. Use the delayed compliance timeline to strengthen your cash position and test your financial assumptions. You need the ability to maintain a healthy cash flow regardless of unforeseen glitches in implementation and post-compliance activities.
4. Expand the testing phase of implementation. Arguably, the greatest contributor to success of technology and process implementations is the ability to test new systems and processes before they go live. Look for opportunities to expand your testing internally and externally. Take advantage of clearinghouse test exchanges where you can submit claims and receive feedback in a simulated environment. While testing exchanges can't say whether an ICD-10 code is correct or if clinical documentation is adequate to support the selected code, exchanges can verify that the electronic claim will be received by the clearinghouse and payer.
5. Communicate with vendors and technology partners. If there's a downside to a one-year delay in ICD-10 compliance, it's the opportunity for other things to change and the chance of a ripple effect across other technology and plans. Look at known activities and plans beyond the original compliance date and assess their impact on the revised ICD-10 implementation plan and timeline. There may be an upside to escalating activities and integrating new initiatives due to the time you're now afforded. Review partner and service provider agreements for necessary modifications due to delayed compliance. Service and support dates may need to be modified, as well as unrelated technology and plans.
6. Review technology obsolescence. Related to communication with vendors and technology partners, don't only consider outlying initiatives, but consider the life cycle of technology and systems you have in place and are counting on to support ICD-10 compliance. All technology has a lifespan. A one-year delay may not seem long, but any legacy system or service you plan to support post ICD-10 compliance needs to live beyond another year. Supporting technologies and systems longer than previously planned may lead or force you to consider alternative plans. It may be wise to expand a project now to reduce future complexities and interruptions.