Vendors in the ICD-10 hot seat
I don't mean to pick on healthcare IT vendors, but they're going to be in the hot seat in 2014, according to the results of a Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) ICD-10 survey.
When asked when their ICD-10 products would be available to customers:
- More than 33 percent said their products were ready now;
- About 40 percent said their products will be ready in 2014. (By the way, they don't mean Jan. 1)
That means their customers will not be able to test until delivery.
"What's been happening is that the vendors that we need to upgrade the software and be capable of ICD-10 processing are not timely, so that is pinching our test time and the downstream functions that come after testing," Judy Comitto, chief information officer at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in New Jersey, told Healthcare IT News. "I'm a bit disappointed having reached out to these vendors that they are certainly not there yet."
"As you will see, it’s not necessarily the providers’ fault," Katherine Rourke wrote in EMR & HIPAA. "In fact, if I were a provider, and my vendor was as behind as some apparently are right now, I would be beside myself."
So, just as the dog eats your kids' homework, your healthcare IT vendor will be delaying your ICD-10 transition. However, about 40 percent of healthcare providers aren't even thinking about external ICD-10 testing until after July 1.
Obviously, technology vendors probably won't be the only problem.
If you really want your vendors to be part of the ICD-10 solution, you're going to have to be proactive and look for some answers.
According to Renee Stantz, a billing and coding consultant with VEI Consulting Services, that means contacting your vendors and asking the right questions about the ICD-10 transition.
Good luck. You may need it.
